MICK McCarthy says it will take an ‘unbelievable offer’ for Wolves to sell Matt Jarvis.
Liverpool have been strongly linked with the club’s first England international in 21 years but McCarthy is clearly losing little sleep over the prospect of losing his winger who signed a new five-year contract in September.
McCarthy said: “Jarvo has been here and done nearly five years. He has been wonderful for us.
“But if a top-four club comes in, offers unbelievable amounts of money for him, he wants to be a regular in the England team, and he can do whatever he wants with his salary and his career and can progress, it becomes very difficult.
“The other scenario is we go ‘no chance, we’ve stayed up, we are adding to the squad, we are going to do this or that’.
“There is no suggestion of him being for sale or anyone else for that matter but it’s football. Who thought Fernando Torres would be sold for £50million and Andy Carroll for £35million.
“No-one is not for sale. That is complete and utter gobbledegook. Let’s deal with it like adults. There are certain scenarios you just cannot stop.”
Jarvis has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water over the last 18 months.
His England cap against Ghana at the end of March was just the start of things, says McCarthy.
“It hasn’t just happened for him over the last 12 months – he’s got better week-in, week-out,” the Wolves boss said.
“Matt’s got better and better, he’s worked at his game and he continues to work at it as well.
“He’s played on the right side when funnily enough, his preference is to play on the left.
“I loved it when Fabio Capello put him on and played him on the right – I thought he was going to say: ‘No, I don’t want to go on the right, I want to play on the left’!
“He doesn’t say that but I know his preference is the left side because he’s played there all of his career despite being a right-footed player.
“It shows how much he’s improved because England put him on and he played on both sides.
“He’s just improved, but he works at his game – his crossing, his finishing, everything.”
Jarvis will have a fit-again Theo Walcott, Adam Johnson and Aaron Lennon to contend with when England are next in action against Switzerland in June.
“He’s got competition there, but all he can do is keep doing it for Wolves and they’ll keep watching him,” McCarthy said.
“He’s trained with them and had 20 minutes.
“They’ve seen him do a bit but that isn’t going to convince them.
“But running past full-backs in this league and getting crosses in and scoring goals week-in, week-out, like he has been doing, will convince them. Then he’ll stay in the England squad.”
