The 18-year-old has signed a two-year contract with the club, and expressed his encouragement at being given a chance to impress new head coach Graham Potter.
He said, “I had been playing for the under-23s at City since I was 16, so I felt that I needed a challenge to try and push myself into a first team.
“It wasn’t a difficult decision for me, because I am at the age now where I need to push on in my career.
“My long-term aim is to be in the first team here, play in the Premier League and do my best to help the team win and stay in this division.
“When I spoke to the manager, he told me to do my best and that I’ll get an opportunity with him, which made me feel very excited.”
The teenager was on the fringes of City’s first-team squad during the latter years of his time in the north west, and explained what he learned from training with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.
“They’re very professional and every training session is like a game to them. The quality that you see on TV is the same as what they show in training. I feel like that I’ve picked up a lot of those little touches," he continued.
“Now I feel like I am ready to add to this team, and I have got some good experience from training with those players.”
Richards also feels that the move will be beneficial for him off the pitch too, and highlighted how being closer to his family in London was another positive to take from making the switch to Albion.
“It’ll be great because I can see most of my family now, which I didn’t have the chance to do beforehand, due to the distance involved.
“They’ve been very supportive of me in making this decision, and are the same in whatever I choose to do.”