James McClean broke EFL protocol by leaking how much Wrexham paid for record signing

James McClean broke EFL protocol in revealing how much his current club Wrexham paid to sign a club-record arrival.

Wrexham broke their transfer record on Friday to sign striker Sam Smith from Reading, paying a reported fee of £1 million to acquire his services.

The 26-year-old had scored 26 goals in League One in the 18 months since signing for the Royals on a free transfer from Cambridge United in 2022.

Wrexham also completed a move for Burnley striker Jay Rodriguez on a 18-month contract to add further firepower to manager Phil Parkinson's attack.

During the summer, co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed a club-record deal to sign another forward in Modou Faal.

Faal was signed from Championship club West Bromwich Albion with a view to Wrexham developing him over the coming seasons, meaning he wasn't in immediate consideration for a spot in the starting XI.

The 21-year-old has scored one goal from 12 appearances in all competitions this season, with Parkinson praising his development in October.

Wrexham forward Modou Faal pictured (Image: Getty)

After his arrival in August, Wrexham did not confirm the exact fee they paid - as is usually customary among EFL clubs.

Speaking on the Price is Football podcast in 2023, football finance expert Kieran Maguire claimed that the reason behind the decision is that clubs do not want to disclose how much transfer budget they have remaining, as it could cause selling clubs to increase their asking price for players in future deals.

"Let's say people believe you have a budget of £50m this summer and you go and sign a player for £40m," he explained. "Selling clubs know that you've not got a lot of money left.

"So by keeping the fees undisclosed, you create a bit of uncertainty."

That uncertainty, though, went out of the window when Wrexham star McClean 'leaked' how much the Red Dragons had paid to sign Faal in August.

At the 'Fozcast' event hosted by former Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster, McClean said that Wrexham had paid £590,000 for the Gambia international - a fee now eclipsed by the sum they splashed out on Smith.

Image: Twitter/@fearlessidzine

BBC Sport had previously reported that the deal was close to the £500,000 mark, with Faal signing a contract until the summer of 2027.

Wrexham are currently in third place in League One, with 55 points from their 29 games so far this season.

They are four points behind second-placed Wycombe and eight behind big-spending Birmingham, who have two games in hand on the Red Dragons.

The Midlands club smashed the League One transfer record to sign Jay Stansfield for £15 million in the same month that Wrexham spent a six-figure fee on Faal, and have spent over £20 million in total on players this season.