Wrexham’s Tommy Doyle pursuit is destined to end in disappointment, Birmingham City spending is on another level
It seems both Wrexham and Birmingham City are the frontrunners to sign Tommy Doyle this summer, but based on past spending records, he’s surely destined to join the Blues.
There may be roughly 70 miles between Wrexham and Birmingham, but thanks to the involvement of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds for the Red Dragons, and Tom Brady for the Blues, there’s a burgeoning rivalry between the two clubs.
It’s a purely superficial rivalry in many ways, and deep down, it’s a bit of friendly competition between the megastar owners. But, there’s no denying the fact the teams are on a similar trajectory, and as such, they both appear to be looking at similar transfer targets.
Wrexham have been linked with Tommy Doyle for a while now. However, it was revealed late last week that Birmingham are now ahead in the race for the Wolves man.
Birmingham City’s record transfer tells us all we need to know about Tommy Doyle race
With this intense transfer battle brewing, you only have to look at Birmingham’s spending record to predict where this is heading and who the winner will be.
Wrexham’s record signing is Sam Smith. The striker was signed in January for a reported fee of £2m, and ended up producing key goals that fired the Red Dragons to promotion.
In contrast, Birmingham spent a massive £15m on Jay Stansfield last summer after the former Fulham starlet impressed on loan.
Stansfield went on to score 19 league goals for the Blues and was a key factor in securing them the League One title.
Having spent more than seven times the amount of Wrexham’s record signing, it’s hard to imagine a world where Birmingham don’t outbid Phil Parkinson’s side in the transfer market, and offer Doyle better contractual terms, too.
Wrexham will break their transfer record this summer, but not on Tommy Doyle
We could still see Wrexham win the race for Doyle, but that would only be likely if Birmingham were to decide they have better alternative options.
However, we do expect Wrexham to break their transfer record this summer. The only thing that remains is to see which player they sign to do so.
Ryan Hardie is the only confirmed Wrexham transfer so far, and they managed to bag him for a very reasonable £700,000. But, we know Wrexham need a few upgrades across the pitch, and that won’t come cheap.
For one, we know Wrexham want Maksym Talovierov from Plymouth. He cost Argyle £1.7m in January and would surely deliver them some profit if he were to be sold this summer; there’s every chance his fee alone could eclipse Smith’s £2m move.
Lewis Travis of Blackburn Rovers has been mooted, too, and we are told his fee would be at least £2m. Whoever it is, Smith will surely not end the summer as Wrexham’s biggest outlay.
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