Okoronkwo signs up to Wolves' revolution

Maintaining a distinct Ukrainian theme to their close-season recruitment drive, Wolves yesterday followed the signing of Arsenal's Oleg Luzhny by recruiting Isaac Okoronkwo on a "Bosman" free transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk, who won the double in the former Soviet republic around the time Molineux was celebrating promotion to the Premiership.

Like Luzhny, who will formalise his move after a week's holiday, 25-year-old Okoronkwo is a central defender. He has 20 caps for Nigeria and started all their games during last summer's World Cup finals, including the draw with England. He has agreed a one-year contract, the brevity of the arrangement being attributed by Wolves' manager, Dave Jones, to a desire by both parties to see how well Okoronkwo settles in England and the Premiership.

In terms of acclimatising to strange environments, he should have few problems. After coming to prominence with the Lagos club, Julius Berger, Okoronkwo became the first Nigerian to play in both Moldova, with Sherif Tiraspol, and Ukraine. At Donetsk he sampled the Champions' League, helping Shakhtar defeat Arsenal 3-0 on one occasion but missing the return at Highbury. Last winter he spent two days training with Newcastle, who were keen to strike a deal until Jonathan Woodgate became available.

Jones, who is hopeful of unveiling three more signings before Wolves leave for their training camp in southern Spain next Monday, said: "I'll travel anywhere to sign players. When we realised Isaac was available, we had to move quickly because other Premiership clubs were interested. To get an international of his calibre is a great boost for us because we don't just want to survive in the top division, we want to compete."

Okoronkwo, a six-footer who is described by his agent as a "quick, strong and intelligent modern centre-back", will hope to fare better in the Black Country than his international team-mate Ifeanyi Udeze did at West Bromwich Albion - his loan spell ended in relegation. "The manager is hungry to do well," the Wolves' newcomer said. "That is a good sign for a young player like me."