Fiorentina directors hail Micah Richards capture

Fiorentina technical director Eduardo Macia has expressed his delight at securing the services of defender Micah Richards.

The club executive described the former Manchester City player as a "great right-back" and spoke of his relief at completing the deal on deadline day.

"We have been thinking about Richards since the end of January's market," he told reporters.

"We wanted a great right-back. There was a lot of competition for him, but from the first day we spoke with the player, he gave us his word and he kept it."

Sporting director Daniele Prade echoed Macia's sentiments, admitting that he was concerned the deal would collapse, like the club's efforts to sign Dimitar Berbatov in 2012.

He said: "I did not sleep the night between Sunday and Monday because I was afraid that something might go wrong for Richards as had happened two years ago with Berbatov."

Fiorentina also attempted to sign Benjamin Stambouli from Montpellier on deadline day, missing out on the midfielder to Tottenham Hotspur.