Wrexham have spent a large amount of money during the summer transfer window as they look to establish themselves in the Championship, but their business appears to be far from over
Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson could still have just under half of his transfer budget to play with despite already splashing out on eight new players. The former Bolton and Bradford manager has been heavily backed by the Welsh club’s Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac in the summer window.
And there’s more yet to come after Wrexham registered their third successive promotion to climb out of League One in April. Parkinson has since brought in a raft of new signings ready for life in the Championship, with an ambitious two-year plan to reach the Premier League said to be in place.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, a total summer budget of £20million was decided up before the window opened. More of that could be spent before the Red Dragons kick off their campaign with a tough test at Southampton on Saturday, where the starting XI is likely to feature several fresh faces.
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Sheffield United striker Kieffer Moore and Leicester City defender Conor Coady are the two latest players to arrive in deals understood to be worth £2m each. Wrexham have already broken their club transfer record twice so far this summer, starting with the acquisition of left-back Liberato Cacace from Italian side Empoli for an initial fee of £2.16m.
That figure was shattered again by the recruitment of Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O’Brien in a move the Mail claims is worth £3m. The club also forked out £1.2m for Bolton midfielder George Thomason and £750,000 on Plymouth striker Ryan Hardie. Meanwhile, Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward and Sheffield Wednesday forward Josh Windass were signed as free agents.
Despite the significant outlay, it’s reported that Wrexham have still only spent £11.1m of their initial budget. It comes as they are still aiming to complete a £7.5m deal for Ipswich forward Nathan Broadhead – although that move is yet to get the green light from their boss Kieran McKenna.
An even more ambitious bid was made earlier in the window to try and attract ex-Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen to the Racecourse Ground. While the offer was ultimately rejected, the Denmark international’s agent spoke highly of Wrexham.
“Wrexham are really upgrading everything both on and off the field and it is a hugely impressive project, as you can see from the presence of people like [chief executive] Michael [Williamson] there,” Eriksen’s representative Martin Schoots said.
Rather than simply being happy to make up the numbers, Wrexham appear to be preparing for a real push to establish themselves in the Championship during the upcoming season. Reynolds and Mac, who recently changed his surname from McElhenney, have made no secret of their goal of taking the club all the way to the Premier League.
And former Ipswich and Crystal Palace player Darren Ambrose, who featured in both the top flight and second tier during his career, thinks the possibility of another promotion this term shouldn’t be dismissed.
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Speaking to Betway, he said: “I’ve tipped them to make the play-offs this year. I think with the board behind Wrexham, I won’t rule it out. You cannot rule out anything in the Championship and they’re signing a lot of good players as well from other clubs in the division.
“Kieffer Moore has signed, there’s rumours that Jamie Vardy could join, and rumours about Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich as well. I played under Phil Parkinson at Charlton, and he’s a very driven individual. He will know the expectations at that football club.
“He’ll know that four promotions on the bounce – we probably won’t ever see that again, so he’ll be doing everything he can to do that, and I think they’ll make the play-offs. If they get to the play-offs, then you never know.”
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