Two newly promoted Championship clubs are going head-to-head in their transfer pursuit for a 23-year-old central midfielder who has Pep Guardiola’s seal of approval.

Manchester City could also benefit directly if Birmingham City or Wrexham sign the player from Wolverhampton Wanderers, who reportedly agreed a sell-on clause and a buyback clause with the former Premier League champions.

Express & Star Wolves correspondent Liam Keen reports that Wolves would prefer that Tommy Doyle only leave on loan this summer but a trio of upwardly mobile clubs could be preparing moves for the former City youngster.

In addition to Birmingham and Wrexham, who have agreed and confirmed a loan deal with Wigan Athletic for striker Paul Mullin, Championship play-off winners Sunderland are understood to be monitoring the former England Under-21 international ahead of their return to the Premier League.

Doyle was initially loaned to Wolves in 2023 before making the move permanent last year. He made 24 appearances in the Premier League last season, 21 of them from the bench.

The Mancunian left Man City with admirers in high places.

Wrexham have been tracking him since they were promoted and The Wrexham Insider reports that Guardiola and City defender Kyle Walker rated his skills.

“That’s Tommy. That’s Tommy in a nutshell. Good passer of the ball, gets on the ball on the half-turn,” Walker told BBC Sport in 2023, when Doyle was on loan at Sheffield United.

Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle pictured (Image: Getty)

“He likes to spray and he does this a lot in training. [Guardiola] always gets him on set pieces when we’re doing certain things because he’s got good technique. And I think these sort of games you give him space and he can lift his head and he can hurt you.”

Wrexham are expected to spend heavily in the summer transfer window in order to handle the step up from League One, with the club’s co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney clear that reaching the second tier isn’t the limit of their ambitions.

Doyle is believed to be a target along with former Fulham captain Tom Cairney, who is out of contract next week and reportedly considering a concrete offer from the promoted North Wales club.