WANDERERS are keeping their transfer spending kitty a secret.

Reebok chiefs have told boss Sam Allardyce how much he has to spend on new players - but they are not telling anyone else.

Chairman Phil Gartside dismissed tabloid speculation that Allardyce has a ceiling of £4m to spend on summer recruits but refused to reveal the exact figure.

He says it would be bad business practice to tell clubs he might be buying players from how much he has to spend.

"Companies don't operate that way in any business," he said.

"The figures that have been quoted (£4m) have not been quoted by us and are not figures that we recognise.

"When you are strengthening your squad you have to look at it from two aspects anyway. One aspect is the transfer fee and the other is the extra wages you will be paying out. The two are aligned.

"We have a plan with a budgeted amount for expenditure which covers the whole club - and I'm not telling you what it is.

"That figure is a secret and you will find out what it is later in the year when the accounts come out.

"We had a budgeted figure last year but we didn't keep to it.

"We decided to speculate and went substantially over budget to try to win promotion so it shows that although you set budgets you've also got to be flexible.

"Sam came to us for help and we backed him."