The world’s forgotten boy

SO young Theo Walcott is off to Germany this summer, and not on a school exchange programme either.

Sven Goran Eriksson — who admits he has only seen the 17-year-old playing competitively on video — could hardly have created a bigger surprise if he’d announced he was bringing along Theo Kojak, a man who made his living “lollipopping” opponents, as Big Ron used to say, back in the day.

Come to think of it, Sven would only ever have seen Kojak in action on the box too, so maybe we should be a little surprised that the great man hasn’t been included in a squad that is badly in need of some no-nonsense beefing up.

Clear battle lines have been drawn up in the entertaining war of words which has followed the England manager’s shock selection. It’s either “a desperate, disgraceful, unprofessional act of self-serving PR spin designed to deflect attention away from all the serious afflictions which currently ail England” (The Media) OR it’s “a brave, bold gamble” (er, Sven).

Meantime, young Theo, who still has to kick a ball in anger for Arsenal, let alone his country, is learning fast about what it means to be an England sensation, including having his girlfriend pictured in the tabloids last week where, in the space of four paragraphs in one salivating red-top, she was variously described as “gorgeous”, “stunning”, “lovely” and “blonde”.

At least she’s up to international standards then, although Colleen must be worried about her place.

Meantime, I think we should all spare a thought for the World Cup’s forgotten boy — Shaun Wright Phillips. Remember him? Only a year ago, he was a superstar in the making at Manchester City; now, on the odd occasion when he turns up on the pitch at Stamford Bridge, you’d forgive even the Chelsea fans for chanting, “Who are ya? Who are ya?”

Back in February, I was among hundreds of journalists invited to Munich’s funky new World Cup Stadium, where the opening game of next month’s tournament will be staged.

The occasion was a promotional day for a football boot manufacturer and Wright Phillips was among a host of big European names there to feed the press and flaunt the company wares.

In conversation, a nice, modest guy who did his best to put a brave face on personally trying times at Chelsea, he even then had the vaguely poignant demeanour of a kid who suspected that he was going to be left behind when the circus pulled out of town. Now we know for sure that this was actually as close as he was ever going to get to a World Cup arena, this year at least.

He did his best to sound philosophical about his international prospects when we spoke to him that day in Munich. No, he had no regrets about joining Chelsea, his aim was to make himself a better player at England’s best club and, as regards going to Germany, well, que sera sera.

Of course, we didn’t entirely believe him, if at all, and sure enough, only this week Bradley Wright Phillips has let slip his older brother’s true feelings. “Shaun had talked to me about going to Germany to watch him,” he revealed, adding that he’d love to see him return to Eastlands, at least on loan. “I try to persuade him all the time,” he said. “I try to get him in the office to sign him up. I’m sure he’d like to come back but it’s not up to him.”

For once, it’s not fair to blame Sven. Teams might not fly on one winger but you can understand why the manager’s eye has been taken by Aaron Lennon, the Spurs starlet who has emerged as this year’s SWP, lighting up the Premiership with some electrifying performances.

No, this time the finger must point at Jose Mourinho and the Chelsea culture of buying up top talent, not necessarily with a view to using it but more as means of ensuring that no competitor does. Wright Phillips arrived at Stamford Bridge amid great fanfare for £21 million (€31m) last summer. Since then, he has made only 10 Premiership starts for Chelsea and hasn’t scored. The last time he hit the net in the top flight was for City against Aston Villa just over 12 months ago. Ironically, when the player joined Chelsea, he said it was to further his England career — instead, it seems to have cost him his place.

This was not just a bad deal for a player who’d made his name bamboozling opponents and hitting some stunning goals for City, but a bad deal for English football, full stop.

Writing in the Manchester Evening News on Wednesday, David Clayton, the editor of the official Manchester City magazine, managed to sound simultaneously aggrieved and sympathetic about the player’s plight.

“How City could have done with him,” he wrote. “It has been frustrating for Blues fans to watch the club’s end of season slide, knowing that their former pint-sized idol could have illuminated Eastlands rather than warm the bench at Stamford Bridge.”

A move out of London appears to be essential. And, while we’re on the subject of top talent cooling its heels, it wouldn’t do our own Damien Duff any harm either — I’m sure I’m not the only one who sees the latter fitting in nicely at Anfield as a replacement for Harry Kewell. But, at least, the Duffer’s international career isn’t threatened by increasingly having to play second-fiddle at Stamford Bridge, although you always worry about a player’s confidence when he feels unsure of his place at a club.

But Duff, a comparative veteran, has already been to the finals of the World Cup. For Shaun Wright Phillips, by contrast, it must sometimes feel like starting all over again.

As the other Theo might have put it: who loves ya, baby?