SWP LINKED AWAY
Former Chelsea and Manchester City winger Shaun Wright Phillips has been linked with a move away from Queens Park Rangers, as the club looks to bring down its wage bill. He is one of the highest earners at the club, as his contract is reported to be worth around £ 50,000 per week.
This is a wage that the club simply cannot afford in the Championship due to the lower TV revenue. Even though the parachute payments, the club will struggle to break even at the end of the season. As a result, he has been linked with a move away from the club in the last few weeks.
The player, though, has categorically denied such rumours by stating that he will remain at QPR this season because he wants to fulfil his contract. Wright Phillips signed the contract on deadline day in 2011. The four-year contract still has two years to run. QPR could have certainly done without an injury he suffered at the end of last season. He is one of the quality players in the team, but he missed the last two months due to an injury. QPR will be beginning the new season in the Championship against Sheffield Wednesday, and Wright Phillips is hoping to be part of the first team for this match.
“When I got injured, everyone stuck by me so I am not about to go anywhere anytime soon. I signed a contract and I want to fulfil it. I played in pre-season but it [ankle] just gets a bit angry every now and again after training. I played with worse last year so I should be able to [play against Wednesday],” said the winger. Shaun Wright Phillips was once the £24 million signing from Manchester City. He has won Premier league titles during his career.
Hooper wanted Queens Park Rangers move
Harry Redknapp, the Queens Park Rangers manager has insisted strongly that former Celtic striker Gary Hooper wanted a summer move to the Loftus Road club from the Scottish giants but a lack of urgency on the club’s behalf saw Premier League side Norwich City swoop for the player and grab him from under their noses and completed a swift deal for the player.
The Rs had an offer for the England striker accepted by the club earlier in the week and Norwich had their own offer accepted soon after. Hooper spoke to both the clubs and the managers and in the end, opted to sign a four year contract with the Canaries admitting that the chance to play in the Premier League was too much of a lure compared to the Championship where Queens Park Rangers will be playing this term.
And speaking to a local media outlet, the former Tottenham Hotspur boss stated that there is no reason to hang about it. He added that he could easily write a book about the players he has signed and lost over the years, before going on to state that all in all, this a part of football. Redknapp also stated that deals have to be completed quickly with other clubs also hanging around and this one dragged on for about two and a half months.
Redknapp mentioned that it was miles long and it should have been done, but insisted that is how things happen and insisted that they must learn from the experience and admitted that Queens Park Rangers cannot afford to make that same mistake once again.
He admitted that the player really wanted to make the switch to Loftus Road and it doesn’t matter what anybody else says because that is how things were but in the end, it just fell apart.