Shaun Wright Phillips BiographyEarly Career
After being released by Nottingham Forest at the age of 15 for being "too small", Manchester City F.C. took him to Maine Road. He later made his debut at Port Vale and went on to become a regular starter in the Premiership. His determination, courage, and foot speed make him one of the most exciting players to emerge from the English Academy in years.
He scored an impressive goal in his England debut against Ukraine on 18 August 2004, after coming on as a substitute, and made his first start for England on February 9, 2005 against the Netherlands.
On 17 November 2004, he became one of the main targets of racist chants from the crowd at an international "friendly" between England and Spain in Madrid. However, he brushed that aside with an incredible match-winning performance in his next Manchester City game at Portsmouth, saying to reporters after the game, "I just let the football do the talking."
He also has a similar response regarding his father, saying in an interview with manchesteronline.co.uk: "The press brought up my adopted father's name. They relate to his name and that is fine by me -- it comes with the name, but I will be my own man. I have made my own path and started to take my own steps."
The England winger completed his £21 million move to Stamford Bridge on 17 July 2005 to join the Barclays Premiership champions and return to his native London.
Chelsea
Wright-Phillips joined Chelsea on a five-year contract after agreeing to personal terms and passing a medical. He had previously said he would not leave Manchester City. His appearances have been limited, however, making only 39 appearances for Chelsea in the 2005/06 season (24 of the 39 as a substitute) and struggling to find scoring form. His first goal for the club came in a 2-0 Champions League win over Levski Sofia on 5 December 2006, almost 17 months after his transfer, and he is yet to score a Premiership goal for his new club. An unhappy first season with Chelsea FC culminated in him missing out on the opportunity to travel to Germany with the England squad for the 2006 World Cup. His brother Bradley Wright-Phillips has said he would like the winger to return to Manchester City FC. Since then, a loan offer has been made by Stuart Pearce, but he himself has admitted that the offer is a "long shot".
Wright-Philips has maintained that he is happy at Chelsea and wants to stay and fight for a first team place. He received a boost from his manager José Mourinho when the latter declined to make an approach for Spain and Real Betis winger JoaquÃn Sánchez RodrÃguez, stating that he has enough options in terms of wingers. He is also eager to start training and playing with new Chelsea team-mates Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko, whom he has described as "future legends".
Wright-Phillips was called up for the Euro 2008 qualifiers in October 2006 and came on as a substitute against Macedonia.
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