Wolves look to offload Roger Johnson

Roger Johnson and Wolves are ready to part company this summer after a disastrous 10 months together.

Wolves are bracing themselves to take a hit on their £4.5m valuation on Molineux's highest-paid player in club history in the knowledge he has become their most toxic asset.

Johnson's Wolves career appears to be over under a year after it started after a disastrous campaign for player and club which culminated in relegation from the Premier League and saw his relationship with several players become strained.

Any sympathy for Johnson's torrid struggle to assert himself as the club's key defender and captain were severed after he turned up for training showing the effects of alcohol on March 5.

The final straw came with Sunday's scenes at Wigan where Johnson was abused by fans as he warmed up and then clapped the Wigan supporters cheering him, while he failed to appear as the players said their farewells to the away end.

All that convinced the club there is no way back for him.

But Wolves will not allow the centre-back, who cost £4.5m when he moved from Birmingham, to leave on a temporary basis to a rival Championship club after reports Sheffield Wednesday, whose former Wolves boss Dave Jones managed Johnson at Cardiff, wanted to take the 28-year-old on a season-long loan.

Johnson is understood to be one of the few players whose contract does not contain a relegation clause, which means he will continue as the club's top earner on around £40,000-a-week, despite the drop to the Championship, if a buyer can't be found. Wolves face a £30m drop in revenue for losing their Premier League place and paying such inflated wages will place a severe drain on their resources if he stays.

But it's understood Wolves want to recoup as much of their outlay as possible for the defender, who has three years left on his contract.

So far, Norwich are the only Premier League club linked with a move for the defender, who failed to figure in the final seven games of the season.

Any clubs interested will wait to make their move in the hope that the price will come down, just like Wolves did 12 months ago when Blues' demands fell dramatically.

If they can't get what they want for Johnson, there is the hope that new boss Stale Solbakken can bring out the player Wolves thought they had signed.

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