Ex-Red on how John Terry tried to lure him to Chelsea and move away from his boyhood club Liverpool

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John Terry certainly doesn’t have the best reputation amongst Liverpool supporters and this story may only add fuel to that particular fire.

Speaking with the Liverpool Echo, former defender Stephen Wright discussed how the ex-Chelsea captain attempted to lure him to Stamford Bridge.

The Bootle-born player struggled for game time and when Gerard Houllier signed Abel Xavier in 2002, he was told that he should start looking for another club.

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Being a boyhood Red, this was crushing news and the 42-year-old discussed what happened next: ‘I wanted to play every single game for this football club, and then I get told that. It was tough to take.

‘I went to see Sunderland with my agent and there was a shed load of clubs that got to know about it as I was on the way, which was a big surprise to me.

‘My agent told me that I’m a young lad coming through one of the biggest clubs, there’s going to be a lot of status for you.

‘I think Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham all wanted to know what’s going on. Telling me ‘don’t sign anything until you speak to us as well’.

‘Coming through the England Under-18s and Under-21s with John Terry he was like ‘don’t sign anything, the Tinkerman (Claudio Ranieri) wants you. Speak to me before they make an offer’.’

Ultimately, the decision was made to join Sunderland and soon followed relegation where he spent the majority of his career in the second tier.

Whether the decision not to head to London was regretted or not, the attempted tapping up from the former England captain wasn’t too succesful.

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