Wolves reject £10m bid for Fletcher

Wolves today threw out Sunderland's £10m bid for Steven Fletcher as Sam Vokes prepared to join Burnley for £500,000.

The Molineux board remains determined to keep the club's best players unless exceptional money is put on the table.

It is understood they do not see the Black Cats' offer – the first serious bid for the 25-year-old – as anywhere near tempting enough. That means Sunderland have to decide on upping the ante or moving on to other targets.

Either way, Wolves' position is the same: They neither welcome offers nor want to create a bidding war for players they are desperate to keep to help regain their Premier League status at the earliest opportunity.

Another sub-plot is a 15 per cent sell-on for Burnley on a Fletcher sale profit.

Villa, whose boss Paul Lambert is a big admirer of Fletcher, have spoken to Wolves but Molineux sources don't expect a bid.

Wolves have put a wall of silence around bids for other players attracting interest.

Like Fletcher – whose ankle injury may keep him out of tonight's first-team friendly at Shrewsbury – they have no interest in losing Matt Jarvis or Michael Kightly, although modest undisclosed bids were made for them by un-named clubs.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Vokes was in Lancashire today for a medical pending personal terms agreement prior to signing a three or four-year deal at Turf Moor.

The Wales international preferred Burnley to Millwall, as he is knows Clarets boss Eddie Howe from his time at Bournemouth and from a loan spell at Burnley last season, which saw him score twice in nine games.

If his move goes through Wolves will make a good profit on £300,000 paid to Bournemouth in June 2008.

He may join Burnley's West Country tour, although probably not in time to play at Bath City tonight.

The departure of Vokes, who scored nine goals in 59 games including 13 starts for Wolves, will bring exits under boss Stale Solbakken to four after Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Adlene Guedioura and Leigh Griffiths.