Wolves place £4m price tag on Bakary Sako

Wolves today set a minimum price of £4million on wantaway Player of the Year Bakary Sako.

The club have received serious interest from Fulham and at least one other Premier League side.

That's plus an un-named Champions' League qualifier in the 25-year-old winger, who cost £3million from St Etienne last August.

Sako is one of many players who want to leave Molineux after relegation to League One and the Express & Star believes Wolves are looking for well over £1million more than they paid for him.

Fellow big earners Roger Johnson, Jamie O'Hara and Kevin Doyle among others are also looking for fresh starts and will be offloaded if Wolves can strike the right deals.

Wolves are hoping they can drive up Sako's price just as they did with Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis last summer.

The duo eventually left for £14million and £10.75million respectively, but are patiently waiting to see what offers come in.

The Frenchman appears to be the most saleable of those looking to leave after quickly settling into life in the Championship, scoring nine goals in 37 League games.

However, it's understood negotiations are in the very early stages and his sale is expected to drag on for some time.

Wolves are prepared to cash in on the former France Under-21 international, as he is believed to be earning more than £20,000-a-week.

Saving that salary would allow manager Kenny Jackett to manoeuvre significantly in the transfer market.

Jackett wants to speak to all the players when they return for the start of pre-season training in 13 days' time, so no-one will be allowed to leave before then.

He also wants to keep Richard Stearman, who has returned from his loan spell at Ipswich.

The former Leicester defender, who left the Foxes for Wolves when City were relegated to the third tier five years ago, is believed to be cool on the prospect of playing in League One for the first time.

Stearman's former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is keen on taking the 25-year-old back to Portman Road on a permanent basis, after he impressed in his 15 games on loan.

Huddersfield are interested in taking Adam Hammill back to the John Smiths Stadium, where he spent three months on loan last season. But they are being rivalled by one undisclosed Championship club.