'I was wanted by Tottenham - but I was put off transfer after phone call with club legend'

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Former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips reveals he was put off joining Tottenham following a phone call with Jermain Defoe . The English wide man departed Stamford Bridge in 2008 when he returned to Manchester City and subsequently played for QPR .

Wright-Phillips enjoyed an extensive Premier League career, beginning in Nottingham Forest's academy before moving to City. There, he broke into the first team and in 2005 departed for Chelsea as part of a £21million transfer .

He played under Jose Mourinho in west London and secured a Premier League title, the FA Cup and a League Cup. In 2008, he was preparing to say goodbye to the London club as potential suitors circled.

The 44-year-old reveals that before he made his decision and returned to City , Tottenham expressed interest in him, but he was deterred from making the switch following a phone conversation with his friend Defoe.

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"It was a weird situation because I always said when I left City I would go back and play one more spell there. I didn't expect it to come as soon as it did because I could have still stayed at Chelsea ," said Wright-Phillips, speaking on In The Mixer , brought to you by Sky Bet.

"They weren't pushing me out the door or anything like that. They wanted me to stay. But it was because of England. They wanted you to have more game time [in order to play for them].

"I had to make a decision and Spurs were floating around. I spoke to JD [Jermain Defoe]. But he said, 'It's not what you think it is.' That was enough for me. I signed the deal for me to go back to City straight away!"

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Wright-Phillips also recalled another episode from his Chelsea period involving their London rivals Tottenham, when a Mourinho forecast proved uncannily accurate.

"He [Mourinho] made it very easy to feel part of that family without necessarily playing all the time," Wright-Phillips continued. "He made you have a role in that team.

"I played all the cup games one year and we had Spurs. He came up to me on Tuesday, Wednesday [before the first leg] and said, 'Not going to play you.' In my head, I'm thinking, 'What's going on?'

"Then he said, 'I've got a feeling we're going to be two-nil down at half-time. You're going to come on. We're going to draw the game. We are going to go to White Hart Lane and we are going to win.'

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"That's exactly what happened. Look back. We were 2-0 down and we were playing terribly. I think he brings me on in the 35th minute or at half time. We draw and we go to White Hart Lane and win.

"After that, I was like, 'If I'm not playing, I can't even go and have an argument with the man.' Because he knows what's going to happen. He was always a session ahead. He thought about everything."

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