Nelsen quells talk of move to US
All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen is playing down reports but Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp fears he may lose his club skipper this month to a coaching job in the United States.
Nelsen, 35, has been linked in the past few days with a coaching role at his former Major League Soccer club DC United or at MLS rivals Toronto FC.
But DC United officials have denied Nelsen would be rejoining the club he played for between 2001 and 2005 before taking up his first Eng- lish premier league contract with Blackburn Rovers.
However, speculation has since mounted that Toronto could be chasing Nelsen as an assistant to head coach Paul Mariner, the former Ipswich Town and England striker.
Nelsen dampened the rumours in a text message to Fairfax on Saturday, saying: ‘‘You shouldn’t believe everything that’s in the papers . . . you will be the first to know if anything like that happens.’’
But Redknapp said yesterday the QPR captain ‘‘has been offered a job in America and I think there is every chance he might want to go’’.
Redknapp said he did not want Nelsen, a fans’ favourite at Loftus Road, to leave bottom of the table QPR. ‘‘To lose him would be a massive blow. I’ll speak to the owner and we’ll try [to keep him], but it is difficult.
‘‘He has been fantastic. I took him to Tottenham last year from Blackburn. He’s one of the best pros I’ve ever met in my life, a fantastic player, a great trainer, a leader,’’ he said.
‘‘He is a massive part of your team [but] he wants to be a manager and it is a chance for him to manage a club.’’