Stoke City eyeing Steven Fletcher at Wolves

Stoke City today became the first Premier League club to show their hand in the race to sign £10m-rated Wolves striker Steven Fletcher.

The Potteries club are understood to have asked about the 25-year-old and boss Tony Pulis is pondering whether to step up his interest with a bid. Pulis is also a big admirer of Fletcher's team-mate Matt Jarvis and has been linked with a £6m move for the once-capped England international.

But it's Fletcher he has asked Wolves about first, an enquiry which is expected to trigger further interest from a host of Premier League clubs.

Wolves are seeking £10m for the Scottish hot-shot after paying Burnley a club-record £7m back in 2010.

Sunderland remain the favourites for Fletcher's signature after being heavily linked with him since the end of the season.

But the Black Cats have yet to show their hand, despite a report last month that the player's agent had held talks on Wearside.

The asking price for the club's top scorer for the last two seasons is expected to mean a drawn-out race for his signature.

Lucrative

But Wolves are well placed to demand an eight-figure fee for Fletcher.

They can point to recent examples of striker sales for huge fees such as Darren Bent, who cost Villa £24m from Sunderland, and the most lucrative of all, Andy Carroll, who went from Newcastle to Liverpool for a cool £35m.

Fletcher outscored both last season – and for a relegated team – with 12 goals from his 32 league appearances including seven headers, more than anyone in the Premier League.

The previous campaign, when he notched 10 in 29 league games, his chance-taking ratio rated him the fifth deadliest marksman in Europe.

Three more factors add to Wolves' bargaining power.

At 25, Fletcher's best years are ahead of him and, due to Wolves' prudent housekeeping, he has three years left on his contract.

Also, with the club carrying no debt, they don't need to sell, so he won't be leaving on the cheap. His exit could well be a new club-record sale, the current one being Robbie Keane's £6m switch to Coventry in 1999.