Kightly close to move from Wolves to Stoke

Wolves winger Michael Kightly was today closing in on a £3m move to Stoke while Sunderland prepared a final £12m bid for Steven Fletcher.

Kightly was due to report for his final training session as a Wolves player today before tying up loose ends on the deal for him with a medical in the Potteries tomorrow.

A fee believed to be £1.5m up front with a further £1m payable after 12 months and the rest in guaranteed add-ons was agreed with the Potteries club over the weekend.

But it isunderstood there are small matters to be tied up between the player – who cost Wolves £25,000 from Grays in January 2007 – and Stoke before the clubs announce the deal as completed.

It is believed Wolves rejected a straight cash offer of £2m, but a compromise has been agreed where they receive more money over a longer period.

His departure is bound to lead to an angry reaction from fans, who have watched Wolves stand by the former England Under-21 international through two years of injury torment before he regained fitness and form in the second half of last season.

But with Kightly into the final year on his contract and seeking Premier League football now, Wolves felt they had no alternative but to cash in on the 26-year-old wideman, who scored 22 goals in 127 appearances at Molineux, now.

The exit of Kightly will take the number of departures under boss Stale Solbakken to four after Adlene Guedioura, Sam Vokes and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing left on a permanent basis and Leigh Griffiths was loaned to Hibernian until January, while Christophe Berra and Adam Hammill are available for transfer.

Kightly could make his debut for Tony Pulis' side at Yeovil tomorrow evening.

Wolves are also braced for a £12m offer from Sunderland for Fletcher. They rejected the Black Cats' £10m bid a week ago but it's understood there is ongoing dialogue.

And Sunderland are believed to be preparing a final, take-it-or-leave-it offer for the 25-year-old striker.

Solbakken left Saturday's 2-0 friendly defeat at Southampton five minutes early to scout another game.