Clues point to Mark Wright being the mystery Three Lions star behind the sale of eight iconic Italia ’90 football shirts… with the jerseys expected to sell for nearly £300K

• The defender scored his only international goal during the storied tournament 
• Wright was pictured wearing one of the jerseys included in the collection 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ 

The clues point to Mark Wright being the mystery England star behind the sale of eight iconic match-worn jerseys from Italia 90.

A shirt from each of England’s seven opponents during their journey to the World Cup semi-final are being sold by Hansons of Derbyshire, with a guide price of £150,000 to £200,000.

The auctioneer says they cannot reveal the identity of the seller because of ‘client confidentiality’, but former defender Wright fits the bill. He was pictured wearing one of the jerseys – West Germany’s Klaus Augenthaler – following the semi-final defeat in Turin.

Charles Hanson, who owns Hansons Auctioneers, said: ‘He (the vendor) played a crucial role in Italia 1990 and enjoyed a stellar career in football.’

There is also a yellow England goalkeeper’s top belonging to Peter Shilton and signed by the squad. He was a team-mate of Wright’s at Derby County and gave it to the mystery player in the dressing-room after the penalty-shootout loss to the Germans. That is estimated to sell for between £40,000 and £50,000.

The sale features a shirt from England’s seven opponents during the storied tournament

Former defender Mark Wright (centre, shirtless) is the number one suspect behind the sale

The others were originally worn by Republic of Ireland midfielder Andy Townsend, Holland winger Johannes van’t Schip, Egypt’s Sader Eid, Marc van der Linden of Belgium, Cameroon’s Emmanuel Kunde and Italy midfielder Giuseppe Giannini. Townsend, incidentally, was a former team-mate of Wright at Southampton.

While it is hoped the shirts will collect up to £250,000 in total – and private bids are invited – they will not get close to the £7.1million that former England midfielder Steve Hodge landed for Diego Maradona’s jersey from Mexico 86. That top – worn by the Argentina captain during the infamous ‘Hand of God’ quarter-final – went for a world-record fee last May.

The England international scored his only international goal during a group stage tie vs Egypt

Hodge was still part of the squad at Italia 90 but did not feature because of injury. Wright, meanwhile, scored his only goal for England during a crucial 1-0 group-stage win over Egypt.

Of the collection, Hanson added: ‘For any die-hard England fan this is an amazing opportunity to own iconic football memorabilia.

‘This unique set of retro shirts sweeps us back to a tournament that will stay forever etched in millions of memories. It took place before social media and the internet dominated life but its impact was huge. The excitement generated by England’s success captivated the nation, mainly thanks to the impact of rising star Paul Gascoigne.’

Wright did not comment when contacted by Mail Sport.

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