James McClean has suggested he could become an “influencer boxer” if his career in football is finished.

Former Ireland international and Wrexham captain McClean, who made his name with Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion and has more than 100 caps, is a boxing fanatic and wants to fight British TV star Joey Essex for the Misfits promotion.

Known for his direct, no-nonsense style and competitive fire as a footballer, McClean has boxed for years as part of a daily training schedule that keeps him fit physically and mentally. He is relishing the chance to test his skills in the ring.

“Sparring is great, pads are great, bags are great, but there’s only one way to find out (how good I am), and that’s stepping in the ring,” the 37-year-old said following the publication of his autobiography, The Walls.

“Boxing’s new to me, so of course there’s something I want to prove for myself because it’s not something that I’ve excelled at before ... if that is what’s next then, obviously, it’s exciting.”

Having devoted his life to football, McClean is well aware he does not have the time to start at the bottom of the boxing ladder and work his way up.

The recent surge in “influencer boxing”, where everyone from high-profile social media figures to reality TV stars meet in the ring, means it is an attractive option.

“I’m almost 38 soon so for me to start a professional boxing career and go down that route, starting from scratch, it’s just not plausible, given my age and having to do that,” he said.

“It (influencer boxing) gives you the opportunity to fight people who aren’t pro boxers and they make a decent earning on a couple of fights that probably most professional fighters never make throughout their whole career.”

McClean’s book chronicles his life growing up in Creggan, Londonderry, an estate in Northern Ireland from which six civilians were killed on Bloody Sunday in 1972. He writes in his book that “learning how to make a petrol bomb was one of my first life lessons. I was 11 before I’d properly mastered it”.

He said said that wearing a poppy was “just never going to happen” in his football career and that Sunderland “hung me out to dry” over the issue.

McClean has already been in the celebrity spotlight. After he moved to Wrexham, owned by Hollywood stars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, McClean featured in the reality TV series Welcome to Wrexham as the Welsh club won successive promotions to the second-tier Championship.

“If I never kick a ball again, that’s where I’ll see the ending of my football career. And what a way to go – I’m from Derry but I actually see that club, because of the bond that we had, as kind of my adopted home, it’s unbelievable,” he said.

McClean returned to Derry City in January after leaving Wrexham but the termination of his contract by mutual consent means he might make that ring walk sooner rather than later.

“I’m happy now in the last 24 hours because I’m a free man, and for the first time in 20 years, I’m excited about what’s next because I can decide what I want to do, and I’m not tied to football or anything else,” he added.