O'Neill's Wright-Phillips waitJan 11 2007
By Hyder Jawad
Aston Villa will discover today if their pursuit of Shaun Wright-Phillips, the Chelsea winger, has been successful.
Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager, is trying to sign the player on loan and I understand that Chelsea officials, returning from China, will make a quick decision.
Initially, Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, would allow Wright-Phillips to go to Villa Park only on loan if Milan Baros moved to Stamford Bridge in return. But Baros is the subject of interest from so many clubs that Chelsea could direct their attention elsewhere.
The problem for Villa concerning Wright-Phillips will be the issue of money. He earns £68,000 a week and Chelsea are unlikely to subsidise any of that if the player was on loan elsewhere.
Nevertheless, it is a sign of Villa's growing significance that they can even be linked with such a player. Prior to the arrival of Randy Lerner as owner, Villa would have had no chance of signing a winger of this pace and quality.