City not looking to sell Wright-Phillips

Manchester City have stressed that star winger Shaun Wright-Phillips is not for sale.

The club declared that they have received no approach from champions Chelsea or any other club, and would not welcome interest from their Barclays Premiership rivals.

Chelsea were reported to have offered £18m for the 23-year-old England man, and such a fee would be hard to turn down for City, who are struggling against debts of more than £60m.

However the club were keen to dispute the claims, and assured fans that Wright-Phillips remains their player.

"Shaun has not been sold, we have received no bids for him nor will we encourage any," head of communications Paul Tyrrell told www.mcfc.co.uk.

Tyrrell argued that the reports were "speculative", adding: "We want to set the record straight on this important matter."

Wright-Phillips fired 10 league goals for City as they finished eighth last season, and signed a new four-year contract at the start of the campaign.

He also made his England debut, scoring after coming off the bench against Ukraine.

Despite missing eight weeks of the season after tearing cartilage in his right knee, Wright-Phillips returned for the closing games.

City missed out on Europe, with Robbie Fowler's last-minute penalty miss against Middlesbrough on the final day denying new boss Stuart Pearce's side a place in the UEFA Cup.