Wrexham CEO Michael Williamson has discussed how traditional methods helped secure the signature of Manchester City defender Callum Doyle despite interest from rivals
Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson has revealed how taking an “old-fashioned” approach helped the club land a key signing. The Red Dragons secured the signature of Manchester City defender Callum Doyle last week on a four-year deal that could reportedly be worth up to £8million.
The Championship new boys fought off interest from a number of their rivals to bring in the highly-rated 21-year-old. Doyle was given his first start for Wrexham on Tuesday night as they came from behind to beat Preston North End 3-2 at Deepdale in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
The England Under-21 international turned in an impressive performance as a late goal from Kieffer Moore handed victory to Phil Parkinson’s side. Former Inter Milan executive Williamson has now lifted the lid on the tactics Wrexham used to get the move over the line.
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The American CEO said that rather than toing and froing with City officials over emails or WhatsApp, he chose to visit the Premier League giants’ Etihad campus in person to conclude the deal. Williamson highlighted adopting old school methods as a big factor in helping Wrexham to pull off the coup.
Speaking about the Doyle transfer in an interview with the club’s official YouTube channel, he said: “In that case, I actually went up to Man City’s campus there, and sat down around the table.
“It was a little bit of an old-fashioned way, instead of exchanging emails back and forth, or WhatsApp messages, we sat around the table and worked out the deal the old-fashioned way over a cup of coffee.
“Those things are important for us to get across the line. In that case, he had other clubs that were looking at him, but that’s just a testament of what we have here and have built as a foundation here with this club – we’re a place that top players want to come to.”
Doyle was also reported to have attracted interest from Scottish side Rangers and Sheffield United before joining Wrexham. The centre-back emerged through City’s academy but only made two senior appearances for the club.
However, Doyle did taste success out on loan, helping Sunderland win promotion from League One in 2022 and reaching the Championship play-off final with Coventry the following season. He later moved temporarily to Leicester, where he again assisted his team to gain automatic promotion, this time to the Premier League, and spent last term with Norwich.
Despite his young age, Doyle already has nearly 100 Championship appearances under his belt. It’s been claimed that location played a key part in the Manchester native’s decision to sign for Wrexham.
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Doyle was the Hollywood-owned club’s tenth new arrival during the summer transfer window. And despite the significant turnover in players, Parkinson is still keen to further improve his squad ahead of Monday’s deadline.
Speaking after last Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Sheffield Wednesday, he said: “There’s bits and pieces going on. We’ll take stock of this and review everything. We’ve got players on the treatment table we need to get back fit, that’s clear to see.
“The squad is decent as it stands, but we’ll just review this game and decide. One or two players may be going and one or two going in. We’ll have a look at that over the next 48 hours.”
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