West Ham offer Wolves £10m for Matt Jarvis
West Ham today made a £10m offer for Wolves winger Matt Jarvis – as reports claimed a fee had been agreed with Sunderland for striker Steven Fletcher.
Wolves have already turned down two bids from Upton Park for 26-year-old Jarvis, culminating in what was understood to be a £9.5m package, including £6.5m up front.
But with the Molineux board believed to be demanding £10m for the want-away England international, Wolves' position could now be on the verge of shifting. The new offer is understood to be £7m up front with £3m in add-ons.
At the heart of Wolves' thinking is whether any replacement they have in mind is good enough.
It is understood FC Copenhagen's Christian Bolanos is one of the potential replacements being checked out. The Costa Rica international would cost around £3m.
Jarvis delivered another vibrant performance in last night's 3-1 win over Barnsley after being man of the match in Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Leeds.
He clapped all four sides of Molineux at the final whistle, something that could well be regarded as a parting gesture after five years at the club.
Another consideration is up to 15 per cent of the profit from the £600,000 Wolves paid for Jarvis in 2007 would go to former club Gillingham, equating to £1,395,000 on £10m.
With Sunderland appearing to have again stepped up their interest in last season's top goalscorer Fletcher, boss Stale Solbakken admitted the team would have to be rebuilt if both go.
"It's going to be a busy time before September 1," said the boss, who expects to sign a centre-back and a winger if Jarvis goes before the end of the transfer window.
"If we lose Fletcher and Jarvis, we have a job to do.
"You can't replace them at this level – if the ideal line-up included Kightly, Fletcher and Jarvis and it ends up without those three, we need to rebuild, which can take time.
"I'm sure players will go and come in – maybe even before the Derby game (on Saturday)."
