Birmingham City co-owner Tom Brady has said his side have to “keep up” with the spending of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham to be able to compete with them in the Championship.
Birmingham broke League One spending records last season on their way to promotion and have brought in six players on permanent deals so far this summer.
Meanwhile, Wrexham are set to break their club-record transfer fee to sign Ipswich Town’s Nathan Broadhead and have already brought in Liberato Cacace from Empoli.
“We’ve got to [keep spending],” Brady told The Sports Agents podcast.
“We’ve got to keep up with one another. Wrexham have, I’d say, done an incredible job. I mean, you can’t be anything but excited about what they’ve done for that club … I’m so impressed by Wrexham.
“What they do on the pitch, off the pitch, and again, they’re in a great position to succeed as well.”
Brady’s Birmingham were unbeaten against Wrexham in League One last season, winning 3-1 in their first game before a 1-1 draw in the return fixture. Both games were dubbed the “Hollywood derby” due to the side’s American influences at board level.
“We’re going to talk a lot of smack in the meantime between all of us [Birmingham and Wrexham], because it’s pretty fun theatre, and I think there’s some little friendly side bets going on.
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“But make no mistake, the people who are going to decide the fate of those games are the players wearing those jerseys.”
Brady is a seven-time Super Bowl champion and also spoke about potentially hosting the final of the NFL at owner Tom Wagner’s planned Birmingham Sports Quarter, which will include a new 62,000 capacity stadium.
“That would be pretty amazing [hosting the Super Bowl]. I don’t make all those decisions. I’m not sure how much I can influence those decisions.
“But I think that my partner, Tom Wagner, is an incredible man, incredible businessman. He has huge ambitions for the club, and I would never bet against anything that he tries to accomplish.
“We want to restore it [Birmingham] to the glory that it’s been in the past. To move up and to be promoted to the Premier League is a very daunting task, but it can be achieved.”
Birmingham open their Championship season at home to Ipswich Town on Aug. 8, while Wrexham travel to newly relegated Southampton on Aug. 9.
