Stars not for sale: McCarthy

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy insists star players Matt Jarvis and Kevin Doyle are not for sale but knows it may still be difficult to hold onto them if clubs offer big money.

McCarthy is looking to strengthen his squad and is known to be an admirer of Birmingham central defender Roger Johnson and West Ham’s Matthew Upson.

In the past two years he has raided other relegated clubs to sign Doyle, Steven Fletcher and Stephen Hunt from Reading, Burnley and Hull respectively.

But at the other end of the scale he is aware his most prized assets could come under the microscope.

McCarthy said: “If someone wants to try and take Matt and Kevin off us, any of our top stars, it is not going to be easy for them – and they are going to be expensive.

“That’s not saying they are for sale. They are not for sale. But neither was Cristiano Ronaldo a couple of years ago, neither were Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll this season – but £50 million and £35 million changed that a little bit!”

Wolves only escaped relegation on the final day of the season and McCarthy knows West Ham, Blackpool and Birmingham are vulnerable to losing players after going down.

He said: “Of course they are vulnerable. We would have been vulnerable had we gone down. It is the way it is.”