Wright-Phillips snub for Villa as O'Neill turns next to BellamyAston Villa will become the latest club to be turned down by Shaun Wright-Phillips. Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager, is keen to sign the Chelsea midfielder either on loan or permanently but the 24-year-old is understood to be reluctant to join the Midlands club. With West Ham's advances spurned and a return to Manchester City rejected, it is now likely to take an offer from Newcastle to convince Wright-Phillips to leave Stamford Bridge before the summer.
O'Neill has not given up on Wright-Phillips but the Villa manager is already turning his attention elsewhere, with Watford's Ashley Young high on a list that also includes Liverpool's Craig Bellamy and Tottenham's Robbie Keane. Those players will not come cheap but the Villa manager yesterday provided an indication of the considerable transfer funds at his disposal when he spoke about the possibility of signing up to "five players of the quality of Stilian Petrov".
O'Neill would increase his transfer kitty further by selling Milan Baros, and the Villa manager has been in discussions with the Czech Republic striker's agent this week about finding another club for the £7m signing.
It seems like swp is rather happy to be sitting on the bench and collecting his $70,000 weekly salary... Like what Duff said before he left, some people don't mind sitting around just to collect their salary but its not for him.