FC Dallas' on-loan Bayern Munich defender Chris Richards is making a name for himself this preseason — literally.
Richards joined Bayern from MLS in July with much less fanfare than Alphonso Davies would generate a few weeks later. But Richards has started to turn heads since making his preseason debut with the Bavarian outfit on July 21, even if his teammates weren't always certain of his name.
Bayern defender David Alaba admits he forgot Richards' first name so he came up with an easy substitute:
"At some point I forgot his first name, but I knew he was from Texas, so I first called him 'Texas'," Alaba told Goal.com's Jon Arnold. "In the meantime, I also know his real name very well!"
Alaba goes on to speak highly of his American teammate.
"He is a good boy," Alaba said. "He plays well, trains hard and he has his goal in mind. If he keeps working that way, he can make progress. He is very talented, that's why he is here. I think he has the potential for a great career."
Alaba isn't the only high-profile Bayern employee to be impressed by Richards. When CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was asked if Bayern would enter the transfer market to replace Jerome Boateng should the defender leave, he said they'd replace him internally.
"No. We have (Mats) Hummels, we have (Niklas) Sule, (Javi) Martinez who can play as centerback. Also David Alaba, and two youngsters in Lukas Mai and Chris Richards. That's much quality," Rummenigge said, via Bild.
Boateng; Hummels; Sule; Martinez; Alaba ... and Texas.
