Garry Monk was fired by Birmingham City after a dispute over the use of his own agent in so many of the club's transfer deals, the chief executive at St Andrew's has claimed.

Monk was dismissed on Monday despite guiding the club to safety in the Championship after being hit with a nine point deduction for a breach of EFL financial regulations.

But Xuandong Ren told Sportsmail on Wednesday that their relationship disintegrated when he told the former Swansea, Leeds and Middlesbrough manager he could not use agent James Featherstone in 'all' the club's transfer deals.

Birmingham City's CEO Xuandong Ren has claimed Garry Monk was fired over a dispute

Ren (L) told Sportsmail that the relationship with Monk deteriorated after the manager was told he could no longer use his agent James Featherstone in the club's transfer deals

Monk was keen on Birmingham City using his agent and close friend Featherstone (right)

According to data published earlier this year by the Football Association, Featherstone was involved in nine of the 18 deals conducted by Birmingham after Monk arrived at the club in March 2018.

He represented Birmingham in the deals that brought Danish defender Kristian Pedersen and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Lee Camp to the club and for seven other transactions that saw players leave.

In an astonishing interview with Sportsmail, Ren said: 'Garry had been really amazing. We got him in when there were 11 games left that season and he managed to win five and draw one. He did great.

'At the time we were under a transfer embargo. But we still managed to agree with the League to bring in five players. Including Pedersen there was six. Most of them were done by his agent, James Featherstone.

'Look, we know how a football agent and a football manager works. It was absolutely fine. We let it happen. Some of the deals worked well. Really good. We were okay with that.

Monk was dismissed on Monday despite guiding the club to safety in the Championship

'Garry knows James Featherstone since they were little. They've been working with each other a long, long time. At the start I said "OK, since we have some sort of restriction, you work with Garry alone and keep me in the loop".

'But this transfer window is going to be different, I said, because we have had a full season and we need to have a proper business plan and a pre-season plan.

'And what hurt them, or really seemed to get them worried, was when I said I was not going to allow them to get involved with every single transfer anymore.

'I said look, "I've got the football club to look after and if you let one agent control all transfers it's very dangerous. Not just for us but also for the players".

'I think the fall-out started from there. His agent is a mature guy. I have to give him that. He said that's fine. But Garry was really upset about this.'

Ren said he spoke to Featherstone about his concerns in 'March, maybe February'. But other issues arose when, on May 18, Ren said the chairman and owner, Chinese businessman Paul Suen Cho Hung, wanted the team to play 'more possession-based, attacking football' next season.

Featherstone was involved in nine of the 18 deals conducted by Birmingham since March 2018

'When the season finished, we didn't have a proper sit down,' said Ren. 'But our owner gave me clear instruction that we need to play clear, possession-based attacking football. That wasn't an order. I said to Gary "what do you think?". I told him on the 18th of May. You know what Garry's reaction was? He said whoever said that doesn't have a f*****g clue about football.

'But at the end of the day it wasn't about the philosophy and what kind of football we played. It was about us stopping the transfers and having his agent controlling all the deals.'

Ren continued: 'We treated Garry well. Whatever Garry wants, Garry gets. He wanted an under 23 team. Garry got an under 23 team. We became the only Championship football club whose under 23 players didn't get a single minute in the first team. As a result none of them wanted to sign new contracts but as soon as the news broke some of the players turned round and said I'm willing to start a contract again.

'Garry has lost his focus on football. Every time he gets fired he became richer. I don't know if he still has the desire to be passionate about football rather than controlling things, all these transfers.'

Monk helped guide the Blues to a 17th place finish despite suffering a nine-point deduction

On Wednesday night, Featherstone declined to comment beyond dismissing the allegations, including a claim by Ren that the agent had tried to recruit a number of the club's younger players – at times with Monk's assistance.

One such player, claimed Ren, was England Under 16 skipper Jude Bellingham. Ren said Monk was 'even going to a meeting with Jude Bellingham's parents trying to get this deal done, trying to get Featherstone to represent Jude'.

'He is the most rated player in the age group,' Ren added. 'He is the captain of the England Under 16s and will be wanted by clubs all over the world. The scouts from all over the world come to watch him play.

'I could go on all day with this but I feel I must defend my club and my chairman over this. Everything I'm saying to you is the truth.'