Wrexham v Birmingham City: Who’s spending more as Championship play-off race heats up? | OneFootball

FLW have compared the current spending rates at two of the Championship's most ambitious clubs

Wrexham and Birmingham City have become two of the EFL's most high-profile clubs in the past two years, with both sharing ambitions of reaching the Premier League as a result of American investment.

It has been well-documented that the Red Dragons have never competed in the top-flight in their lengthy history, whilst Blues have been exiled from the Premier League since their relegation in May 2011.

Last season saw Blues break a whole manner of club and EFL-wide records in their only campaign in League One since 1995, which included parting with an eight-figure sum to sign Jay Stansfield from Fulham on a permanent basis, before ending the season 19 points clear of Phil Parkinson's men as Chris Davies guided the West Midlands club to an all-time high of 111 points from 46 games in his first campaign as a full-time manager.

Both clubs have transformed their respective squads since then in a bid to immediately make their mark on the Championship, with the North Wales club subsequently smashing their own transfer spend with the signing of Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich Town.

At present, Davies and Parkinson's sides are locked in a multi-club battle for the play-offs between now and May 2nd, with Wrexham currently four places and two points better off than Birmingham with 14 games remaining.

Due to the cash at the disposal of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac at the Stok Cae Ras and Tom Wagner at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, Football League World have looked at which club is currently spending more than the other as the play-off race continues to intensify.

Birmingham City are currently spending more money on wages than Wrexham

Birmingham have been one of the division's most active clubs across the campaign's two transfer windows, with 14 players signed in the summer, before Davies and Co. looked to reshape the squad in B9 after an inconsistent first half of the campaign.

As well as turning Patrick Roberts' loan switch from Sunderland into a permanent transfer, Birmingham completed the permanent and loan acquisitions of Jonathan Panzo, Kai Wagner, Jhon Solis, Carlos Vicente, Ibrahim Osman and August Priske between January 1st and the recent transfer deadline of February 2nd.

It has certainly paid dividends as Davies' side are on a six-game unbeaten run in the Championship, although it has also seen their wage bill shoot up as a result.

According to Capology - a site which ESTIMATES wage bills and individual player earnings - the Second City club now have the sixth-highest wage bill across the second tier, with a figure of £441,000 only lesser than that of Leicester City, Sheffield United, Southampton, Ipswich and Norwich City.

The aforementioned weekly sum also means Wagner is paying out £22.93m on wages throughout the entire season, which is over £100,000 more than the combined wage structure at Wrexham.

The same site ESTIMATES that Reynolds and Rob Mac are investing £337,050 per week into player wages in Wales, which sees them rank six teams lower than Blues on the divisional standings for this particular financial metric.

As such, the side who are hoping to make even more history by earning an unheard-of fourth successive promotion straight from the National League to the Premier League, are believed to be spending £17.52m on those earnings throughout the 46-game season.

It comes as no real surprise, though, that the two clubs' highest earners are both players who are capable of making a difference in the final weeks of the season as Birmingham and Wrexham look to outdo each other on the big stage once more, with this newfound 'rivalry' making plenty of waves across the Atlantic.

Blues' highest earner was previously £10m buy, Kyogo Furuhashi, who is reported to be earning £40,000 per week at St. Andrew's despite failing to justify such a price-tag and individual earnings through a lack of goals and recent appearances.

As such, the aforementioned Vicente, who cost £7m from Deportivo Alaves, is now the top earner in B9 with an ESTIMATED weekly salary of £50,000 per week. The Spaniard was handed his first start for the club in the FA Cup defeat to Leeds United, and already has an assist under his belt after teeing up Marvin Ducksch for the German's crucial strike against Oxford United on January 31st.

Meanwhile, whilst not being the biggest of signings in terms of the fee parted with, Kieffer Moore has certainly justified being the highest earner in North Wales, with the Welsh international's ESTIMATED earnings coming at a sum of £30,000 per week.

The experienced forward was signed for just £2m from Sheffield United in August, and already has 10 goals across his first 29 league appearances for Wrexham, albeit none have come since a brace against his former employers on Boxing Day.

As such, Moore will hope he can rekindle his goalscoring touch in the run-in period, which also sees his side face off against Birmingham at St. Andrew's in April, with the two sides previously playing out a 1-1 draw at the Stok Cae Ras on October 3rd.