Kenyon: no City approach for Wright-Phillips

CHELSEA chief executive Peter Kenyon has denied claims that Manchester City tried to take Shaun Wright-Phillips back to the club on loan.

City manager Stuart Pearce insisted earlier this week that Chelsea turned down their approach for the England winger they sold for £21m six months ago.

But Kenyon rejected Pearce’s comments and revealed the Londoners had received no enquiries for the winger. “There have been no discussions either internally or any approaches externally. It is one of the speculations that goes around Chelsea these days.”

Kenyon also revealed the club were happy to have kept out of the spending stakes during the transfer window with Jose Mourinho at ease with his current squad and the addition of Maniche on loan from Dynamo Moscow.

Kenyon explained: “We want our squad together for the summer and we try to get that done right for the start of the season so we start pre-season training and the time we have the first competitive game the team is together. We use January very much for emergency rather than looking at it as a real opportunity to strengthen or change the squad.”

But Kenyon refused to elaborate any further about the on-going saga involving Nigerian youngster John Obi Mikel. The champions are reportedly involved in a row with Man United over the player’s ultimate destination.

United accuse Chelsea of trying to steal the player from their grasp after he had agreed to join them from Lyn Oslo. United have asked FIFA to investigate the matter and Kenyon is quite happy for the them to resolve the problem.

Meanwhile, Mourinho has admitted the loss of striker Didier Drogba has affected their cutting edge. Drogba remains on international duty with Ivory Coast, who play Cameroon in the quarter-finals of the African Nations Cup tomorrow.

Chelsea have struggled to maintain their form during his absence with just two wins and three draws since he left.

Drogba has scored 10 goals in all competitions this season - including one in his last game before he left - the 3-1 win over West Ham.

Although Chelsea went on to beat Huddersfield in the FA Cup and Sunderland in the Premiership, the victories were far from impressive. Three consecutive 1-1 draws have followed.

Chelsea, also without England U-21 striker Carlton Cole though injury, have been relying on Argentinian forward Hernan Crespo to supply the firepower in attack. But he has failed to hit the target in their last two games and Mourinho says it is the sheer physical power of Drogba that they are missing.