Doyle set for Wolves switch

WOLVES are set to announce the signing of Ireland international Kevin Doyle later this morning.

The Reading striker has been a long-term target for Wolves boss Mick McCarthy and it is thought a fee in the region of £6 million (€7m) has been enough to land the Republic of Ireland international.

A press conference is due for 9.30am where it is expected Doyle will be unveiled as the Premier League new boys’ latest signing.

Wolves were not the only club to come in for Doyle as the 25-year-old also reportedly attracted attention from the likes of Aston Villa, Everton, Sunderland, Bolton and Fulham.

McCarthy has been busy in the transfer market since Wolves’ promotion last term but it is the capture of Doyle that will be seen as his biggest coup to date.

After their failure to regain Premier League status at the first attempt, Reading had been resigned to the loss of 26-year-old Doyle, who scored 13 times for Steve Coppell’s men in their inaugural season in the top flight.

The reported fee is thought to be just below the player’s £6.5 million (€7.7m) get-out clause.

Doyle joined Reading in 2005 from Cork City and was an immediate hit as the Royals ran away with the 2006 Championship, gaining promotion in the process.

But relegation followed two summers later and the Wexford-born striker, who had been keen for a return to the top flight, was on the verge of a switch to Aston Villa last autumn.

The 25-year-old only signed a new three-year contract last November but the deal was penned on the understanding that the Championship club would not stand in his way if they failed to win promotion and a Premier League club tabled a bid worth at least £6.5m.

Injuries marred the season run-in for Doyle, an Achilles strain sustained in the first leg of his club’s semi-final promotion play-off against Burnley eventually ruling him out of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria in Sofia.