Ian Wright has accused senior Manchester City figures of treating his adopted son Shaun Wright-Phillips "like a youth-team player" in contract talks.
Wright-Phillips, who returned to City in 2008 after a difficult spell at Chelsea, has two years left to run on his deal at Eastlands.
The 28-year-old is eager to extend his stay but, according to former Arsenal and England frontman Wright, City are "mugging off" the winger.
Wright told talkSPORT: "I tell you what was really awkward, they called him in and he wants to sign his deal, wants to sign for the rest of his career so he can be settled and get ready to go [to the World Cup in South Africa].
"But there's these people like [football administration officer] Brian Marwood and [chief executive] Garry Cook mugging him off, treating him like a youth-team player and not someone who actually wants to be there because of what he thinks Manchester City can do."
Wright-Phillips joined City prior to the takeover by Sheikh Mansour in 2009, and several new arrivals have come to the club on salaries higher than his own.
"He signed before all the money came," Wright pointed out.
Wright expressed disappointment with Marwood and Cook for the manner in which he feels they are treating Wright-Phillips.
He said: "When you have people like Marwood and Cook, who for me are just a bit full of themselves, I'm not sure they know exactly what they are doing deep down so I'm just a bit worried about that.
"I would love him to be settled so he could just concentrate on getting City into the top four, which would be brilliant for all of them.
"That's what he wants to do and then God willing he can end up getting on the plane and going to the World Cup, doing well for England and everything would be great.
"That's what I would like to happen. But you know how football is, it's different from one week to the next."
Wright-Phillips was impressive as a goalscoring substitute for England in Wednesday's 3-1 victory over Egypt, however the man he replaced, Theo Walcott, gave a performance which has been strongly criticised.
Chris Waddle questioned Walcott's suitability for a wide role, and Wright also believes the Arsenal forward lacks subtlety.
Wright said: "When you watched him it looked like he hasn't learned much about anything in respect of movement off the defender, receiving the ball and going past people. He just seems to like to get the ball and hammer at people without any thought."
He added: "At the end of the day there are other people waiting and that's how it is at England level, they are ruthless. If you have a bad game then someone is ready to come and pick up the pieces."