City issue denial over SWP.

City moved swiftly in the face of a weekends barrage of transfer speculation by issuing a press statement concerning the future of SWP.
It is a fairly unprecedented move by a club to issue such a statement but one that the club felt was necessary once Saturday's backpage headlines in the tabloids began to revurberate around, with most suggesting that an £18 million transfer was all but signed, sealed and delivered.
"Shaun has not been sold, we have received no bids for him nor will we encourage any" was the official line put out by City and Stuart Pearce again stated today that he sees SWP as a vital part of the clubs' future.
Ian Wright also weighed in with an interview on Sky Sports in which he said that SWP was happy and enjoyed it at City but believed he needed to be playing Champions League football 'sooner rather than later'.
It has left most Blues fearing the worst (ahh, Blue optimism again) and to me the most interesting factor was the club releasing the statement. When statements are released to the press they are obviously very carefully worded and to me the wording is a key reason why I fear he may not be with us for too long after the July 1st transfer window opens.
What the club ommitted from the statement was what would happen should we receive any bids from Chelsea (who appear to be the only team willing or able to pay the magical £20 million we are supposed to be holding out for). It is all very well confirming no bids have been received and we won't encourage any, but lets face it that wording is unlikely to be a strong deterrent to Chelsea and Roman Abramovich will hardly be quaking in his boots at City's tough talking.
What it basically will come down to is whether Chelsea want him. If they do, Chelsea will be able to bid enough, we will not be able to turn a bid of in the region of £20 million down, and realistically SWP won't be able to turn it down (as if he would realistically have much choice in the matter). I fear that it will just be a case of damage limitation for City now as they try to handle it in the best way to avoid the inevitable fans backlash following a sale.
All the noises coming out of the press suggest Chelsea do want him so it is likely to be a nervous time for all Blues as we wonder if SWP has played his final game for the club.