Wolves go cool in bid for Onyewu

Wolves have abandoned their interest in signing American international central defender Oguchi Onyewu from Belgian club Standard Liege.

The Molineux club had placed the 27-year-old 6ft 4in central defender on their list of potential targets this summer and spoken about the prospects of a deal with his agent Lyle Yorks.

But manager Mick McCarthy has decided against pursuing his interest – although Onyewu is now in talks with Birmingham City about a possible move to the Premier League.

That once more underlines the frantic scramble and fierce competition for signings as clubs dog each other's footsteps with Wolves also under pressure to close out their £2.6m bid for the Serbian midfielder Nenad Milijas.

Borussia Moenchengladbach and Fenebarche have also been linked to the 26-year-old midfielder, but Wolves remain the only club so far to strike any kind of deal with Red Star Belgrade.

To add to the pressures, a third known target for McCarthy, on-loan Albion striker Marc-Antoine Fortune, now finds himself entangled in the Tony Mowbray affair at Celtic.

Scottish media sources are not only adamant Mowbray will leave The Hawthorns for Parkhead but make the French striker his first signing.