Pearce joins queue to sign Wright-Phillips
Stuart Pearce has admitted he would be interested in bringing Shaun
Wright-Phillips back to Manchester City.
The England winger left the Blues for Chelsea in a club record
£21million deal 16 months ago but has failed to establish himself
at Stamford Bridge.
Wright-Phillips did not even make the bench for Sunday's 1-1 draw
with Manchester United and last week, Chelsea chief executive Peter
Kenyon dropped the first hint the Premiership champions would be
interested in letting the 25-year-old leave after revealing West
Ham had inquired about him.
And Pearce has now confirmed if Chelsea give the green light for
Wright-Phillips' departure, he intends to be in the queue to get
him.
'If a price was set and Chelsea were prepared to sell him, just
think what a big lift it would give everyone here for Shaun to walk
back through the door,' said Pearce.
'You would have to go some to have a combination of Shaun and Micah
(Richards) playing on the same side of the pitch.
'The question is whether Chelsea would want to sell him, after that
it is something for our board to decide.'
Pearce has twice tried to lure Wright-Phillips back to Eastlands on
loan but there has to be a major doubt over whether City could come
up with the kind of cash Chelsea would be looking for if they do
decide to sell.
In all other aspects though, the deal would be perfect given the
admiration City fans still hold for Wright-Phillips, the first
member of the Blues academy to make it into the England fold.
And, while his time at Chelsea has been tortuous, culminating in
his failure to win a place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's World Cup
squad, Pearce is confident he could quickly rediscover the form
which got him his move south in the first place.
'I have no doubt about that,' he said.
'He is a very level-headed lad. He is the same kid he was when he
first broke into the Manchester City team some years ago.'
Meanwhile Claudio Reyna has dismissed speculation he will leave
City and return to the United States during the January transfer
window.
The veteran midfielder, who has had spells with Rangers and
Sunderland, has long claimed an intention to spend the latter
stages of his career in the burgeoning Major League Soccer
competition.
Reyna, 33, is in the final year of his current contract and
although he remains a regular member of Stuart Pearce's preferred
starting line-up, at least two MLS outfits have been in contact
inquiring about his services for next season.
However Reyna, who starred in four World Cup finals for his country
and captained them in Germany last summer, insists he is going
nowhere.
'Those rumours start about any American player once they hit my
age, but I am not sure where they are coming from,' he told the
club's website.
'It is just natural, there are clubs back home that are interested
but at the moment there is nothing to it.'
After starting in a new-look midfield including Richards, at
Liverpool on Saturday, Reyna is expected to keep his place as City
look to secure their first away win of the season at Aston Villa on
Wednesday.
is he going back to the place where he belong?