Wolves close in signing of Crewe's Luke Murphy
Wolves were today closing in on highly-rated Crewe midfielder Luke Murphy with the clubs nearing agreement on a fee.
It's understood Alexandra have turned down at least one bid from Molineux and are looking for around £750,000 for the 23-year-old.
Wolves face competition from other clubs, with Blackburn also linked to the 6ft 2in player.
Crewe are looking to push the fee up towards the £1.5m figure they accepted from Villa for Ashley Westwood a year ago.
But it's not clear if Wolves will go that high, confident that Crewe appear resigned to his departure.
Molineux officials hope to have stolen a march on their Championship rivals after scouting Murphy extensively last season.
Murphy fits the 'young and vibrant' profile identified by head coach Kenny Jackett, while he also fulfils the criteria of having been successful at League One level.
The Alsager-born prospect has played 186 games for Alex since making his debut in December 2008.
He helped the club win promotion to League One via the play-offs in 2011-12, with eight goals in 49 games in all competitions.
Murphy hit nine in 48 last term in a campaign where the Railwaymen also won the Johnstone Paints Trophy at Wembley, with Murphy scoring one of the goals.
Wolves are looking to create space in the centre of their midfield by putting Karl Henry and Jamie O'Hara up for sale.
The head coach told Roger Johnson, O'Hara, Henry and Stephen Ward they weren't part of his plans as they reported back for the start of pre-season training yesterday.
