Wolves will look to raid the crown jewels of their rivals this summer as they prepare for the next tier of Premier League spending.

The club remain confident of keeping record £6.5m record signing Kevin Doyle and plan to attract the ‘best of the rest’ at their price level, while sticking largely to the young and hungry policy that has served Wolves so well over the last four years.

That will mean a likely trawl through the cream of the relegated clubs’ squads as they chase the Premier League experience that eluded them last summer, as well as the top of the Championship.

Players that could come under the microscope include Portsmouth’s Ivory Coast striker Aruna Dindane and midfielders Tommy Smith and Richard Hughes and Burnley trio Danny Fox, Wade Elliott and the versatile Andre Bikey, who is a former Reading team-mate of Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann.

Smith had talks at Wolves last summer but the club would not pay his demands.

And I understand any thoughts about attracting Robbie Keane for a Molineux reunion are fanciful, with the 29-year-old unwilling to drop to the bottom ‘mini-league’ Wolves will be competing in.

Wolves, who inquired about taking Keane on loan in January, would now also be cagey about splashing out so much on a player they are not convinced is a ‘best-fit’ for Doyle as a partner.

Chief executive Jez Moxey said: “Just because we went for a player in January doesn’t mean we’re going to go for that player in the summer.”

But the club are keen to attract one or two Doyle-like “marquee” signings.

“I don’t have any negative thoughts at all about losing Kevin,” said boss Mick McCarthy.

“He’s a good player and we will be looking at other players who other clubs will be thinking are their best players to strengthen the squad.”

Moxey added: “Very good players cost lots of money but it’s more a question of whether you can get the good players you want and they are very expensive.

“People were surprised when Kevin Doyle came with the fee and the wages but we would certainly like to sign one or two quality signings in the summer.

“The players have achieved the target of staying up – why would they not want to be here to achieve the next target?”