Wolves ready to buy Jamie O'Hara

Wolves are ready to smash their record fee for a midfielder by landing loanee Jamie O'Hara - but the permanent move hinges on the club staying up.

Tottenham's valuation of the 24-year-old is believed to be £5million-plus, dwarfing the £2.6million Wolves paid Red Star Belgrade for Nenad Milijas almost two years ago.

O'Hara is currently at Wolves on loan for the rest of the season with a view to a permanent move in the summer.

Up until now, manager Mick McCarthy has only stated O'Hara is at Wolves for both parties to have a 'look-see.'

But the midfielder's hugely positive impact with two goals in his four games so far has triggered McCarthy into showing his hand at a time when rumours of rival interest are beginning to circulate.

He said: "I want to sign him and I think Jamie would be happy to come.

"It will all be dependent on whether we can offer him Premier League football though. If we were safe there would be no doubt that a deal would be done.

"Jamie wants to come and we want to sign him."

The Wolves boss is keen to seal a permanent deal for O'Hara and is wary of losing another key midfield target after watching Steve Sidwell slip through his fingers in January.

Sidwell ended up joining Fulham after rejecting a move to West Ham and agreeing to sign for Wolves from Villa, only to take the call from Craven Cottage during his medical at Compton.

McCarthy said: "You can have a deal agreed on anything but until it's signed somebody can scupper it. He's here until the end of the season, for the next nine games.

"But if it all could be done tomorrow, I'd sign him if we could."

O'Hara would become Wolves' most expensive signing after £7million Steven Fletcher and £6.5million Kevin Doyle.

Wolves are always willing to pull out of deals they don't think represent value for money, but O'Hara fits into the 'young and hungry' bracket they have had so much success in recruiting from under McCarthy.