It's a sad end to Micah Richards' Manchester City career after signing on a free transfer for Aston Villa. This time three years ago, the England defender was hot property, and it was a travesty that he wasn't picked by Roy Hodgson to travel with England to Euro 2012 -- and indeed it could have been that decision that indirectly started his downfall with his club.
The right-back had been at City for six years by that point and had had his ups and downs. After breaking into the side under Stuart Pearce, he was hastily rushed up the ladder to England level and had big things said about him at a young age. Now, even the defender himself admits the praise was probably a little premature, although there can be no doubt the potential was always there.
He was with the club through two takeovers, five managers and nine seasons. As a young player still learning his trade, being with a side catapulted from mid-table to title-winners can't be easy; there was little stability for him as fellow defenders came and went. It was Roberto Mancini who would get the best out of him, as Richards nailed down the right-back role under the Italian, following a barnstorming display in the FA Cup at Notts County in 2011.
That game sparked a run of form that would see him through to winning his first Premier League title at a time when many were getting ready to give up on his potential. Suddenly, he began to fulfil it.
It's easy to forget now, but Richards was head and shoulders the best right-back in the top flight in that 2011-12 campaign. Even Pablo Zabaleta, who's since shown phenomenal ability and consistency for the club in that position, couldn't get near the first team. It was only an injury to his rival for the place that allowed the Argentine in at the end of the season, and what kept him there more than anything was Mancini's decision to go unchanged for six matches.
Richards' omission from the England squad at the end of that campaign left him free to link up with Stuart Pearce's Team GB at the London Olympics. He was named as one of the three over-age players, with the manager fully aware of what the defender, who was still only 23 years old, could do.
The full-back was never quite the same after he returned, having suffered an injury in a clash with South Korean goalkeeper Jung Sung-Ryong in his and Team GB's final match of the tournament. He was unable to continue and it ruled him out of the start of the 2012-13 season as his club were making an attempt to defend their Premier League title.
It got worse for him. When he did get back to full fitness and as he was beginning to get some time on the pitch, he suffered another serious injury. With nobody around him, he went down inside his own penalty area during City's 1-0 win over Swansea and was carried off with five minutes to play.
He wouldn't make another appearance for six months. In total, he'd play just 15 more times for the club across all competitions in three years, from a position of having been the best right-back in the league.
The trouble was that both he and new manager Manuel Pellegrini were in a quandary. The right-back needed games in order to return to his absolute best. In the minutes he was getting on the pitch, though, his reactions weren't up to scratch and his positioning was a little hit and miss. Yet he had to get that match practice in order to get back into his rhythm after so long in the treatment room.
Meanwhile, Pellegrini couldn't risk leaving the defence exposed down the right flank in his bid to win trophies at the club. It left Richards in limbo, and it meant that, come the end of the 2013-14 season, he didn't even qualify for a Premier League winners medal.
While many argue he's a better option than Bacary Sagna -- and, to be fair, they'd be right -- it depends on him being fit, available and back in form. With City unable to guarantee that he'd play, Richards rejected their offer of a contract extension and spent his final year on a season-long loan at Fiorentina in an attempt to get the football he so badly needed. He made 19 appearances all year.
If Aston Villa can get the right-back fully fit, then they've made a hell of a signing. However, that could be a huge "if"; his recent injury record doesn't read well. It's a sad fall from grace for a player who is a City fans' favourite and whose presence at the club will be sorely missed.
One wonders whether he'd now be a regular for both club and country had he never been carried off the pitch that October afternoon against Swansea during his comeback from injury with Team GB.