Wrexham ended their three-match run without a win by beating Mansfield Town 1-0 on Saturday, but star striker Paul Mullin had another quiet match.
The Red Dragons beat play-off-chasing Mansfield thanks to a tremendous early strike from Ryan Barnett, but the three points were far from simple to claim.
Rob McElhenney described the Mansfield win as ‘tough’, which couldn’t be more accurate as the visitors controlled large spells of the game. The Stags had 67% of the ball in the second half, but a resolute defensive performance from Phil Parkinson’s side was enough to secure the points.
If there was one negative from Saturday, though, it was the continuation of Mullin’s struggles in front of goal. Mullin has not scored since Wrexham’s 1-0 victory over Rotherham United, leading to former Red Dragons boss Dean Saunders suggesting a bold strategy for the upcoming transfer window.
Dean Saunders suggests Premier League look for Wrexham
Speaking to GOAL, Saunders suggested that Wrexham could look to the giants of the Premier League to fill the scoring gap currently left by Mullin.
He said: “It sounds easy – you’ve got a million quid, let’s get a million-pound striker. But what striker worth a million quid wants to play lower down the leagues? If you are worth a million quid in the market, you can play for a lot of big clubs in a big league.
“It’s a matter of time before they go ‘right, come on, how much is it going to take to get him out of there?’ They might get someone out of Arsenal’s U21 team, or Liverpool’s U21 team. How much is it going to cost to buy him? But it’s coming.”
McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds will be looking to capitalise on the income received from Wrexham’s new investors, the Allyn family, but Saunders is right to question whether the right opportunity to replace Mullin will arise with the money they have available.
However, Saunders’ suggestion of a look at a young Premier League striker may be exactly the investment Wrexham should be looking at when considering some of League One’s recent top hitmen.
Premier League graduates have dominated League One
Looking back to 2019/20, it was Ivan Toney who raced away as the League One top scorer, notching 24 goals for Peterborough United after signing from Newcastle United. He would then go on to be sold in the next summer for over £5 million to Brentford.
In 2021/22, Manchester United academy-graduate Will Keane scored 26 goals on the way to helping Wigan Athletic win the League One title. Even so far in this campaign, young Aston Villa talent Louie Barry leads the goalscoring charts for Stockport County with ten goals.
Saunders added in his interview: “Say it’s a striker, he knows that if he doesn’t score at that level, he could end up losing all of the stature he has got to.”
If Mullin continues to struggle, The Wrexham owners should take Saunders’ advice, and the track-record of young Premier League talent, into account before investing a large sum of money into a new frontman at The Racecourse Ground.