Wolves are closer to signing Roger Johnson

Wolves were today moving closer to signing top target Roger Johnson after opening talks with the £7m-rated Birmingham defender.

The 28-year-old was at Molineux earlier today for discussions after the clubs agreed a fee for a deal that would match their £7m club record with Steven Fletcher.

Johnson is poised to become the club's highest earner when he puts pen to paper on a four-year contract worth an estimated £40,000-a-week.

The Londoner has been Mick McCarthy's No 1 since the end of the season.

Wolves acted quickly in resuming their hunt for Johnson, who they missed out two years ago when he joined Blues for £5m, after Matt Mills last week joined Leicester for an initial fee of £4.5m.

They were put off by Blues' demands of £9m for Johnson, but the clubs have reached a compromise on the fee.

Birmingham are resigned to losing their best players following relegation from the Premier League and Johnson's agent Paul Smith said early last month that his client had been told he could move on.

Signing Johnson will make up to Wolves for losing out on his Blues team-mate Craig Gardner, who joined Sunderland for £4.5m.