Darren Fletcher is often linked with a move away from Manchester because of his lack of first team appearances due to the brutal quality and competition for places in Sir Alex Ferguson’s team.

Birmingham City were linked with a loan move for the Scotland international last January, but McLeish does not believe the club have the finances to secure the 24-year-old permanently.

“We don’t have money for players like Darren, no way do I think we could do a deal like that,” he told the Birmingham Mail.

“It would be too much for us, we don’t have the capacity for a deal of that magnitude.”