Aston Villa fans were delighted in September 2015 when their club moved to sign Joleon Lescott from West Brom.

Lescott had played for Manchester City, winning the Premier League twice and had 26 England Caps to his name. He was a superb signing on paper, a player acquired to excite the fans.

One partnership in particular looked tantalisingly good, that of Lescott and Micah Richards, another one-time Manchester City player who had ended up with Villa.

It looked as though the pair could have a long and fruitful career together in claret and blue, pushing Villa on to a Europa League qualification.

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Sadly for those long-suffering fans, it didn't turn out that way. The much-lauded signing played 30 top flight games as the club crashed out of the Premier League. Lescott was chastised as they lost 6-0 against Liverpool for posting about his car on social media after another loss for the Villa.

He later described relegation as a 'weight off the mind' and claimed it would allow the players to put in some good performances at last. That drew the anger of high-profile former players such as Paul McGrath and Stan Collymore.

As for the partnership between Lescott and Richards, it was non-existent as the Villa crashed out of the league. Still, for a brief moment in mid-2015 it certainly looked good on paper.