An emerging statistic shows how much Wrexham have evolved since Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds tookover in February 2021.
It’s difficult to pick out a bigger transformation in recent years than Wrexham.
Phil Parkinson‘s men have gone from struggling in the National League to reaching League One in a few seasons.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds takeover in February 2021 has been the sole driver behind their success.
Their appeal as global superstars has helped increase significant investment, the number of fans attending games, supporters in the United States and a social media profile that puts them on par with most Premier League clubs.
That isn’t to mention the success of their Welcome to Wrexham documentary, which returns to screens in two days.
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It is fair to say their revival of the third-oldest professional association football team in the world has played host to lots of changes, including the playing staff.
The players who remain at Wrexham from before the takeover
McElhenney and Reynolds have unloaded their deep pockets to fast-track Wrexham’s progress up the divisions.
Naturally, the Reds have had a large turnover of players since February 2021 – the month of their takeover – as significant improvements have been made to their squad.
Unsurprisingly, Wrexham have seen a lot of players depart during that time, with many from the National League era no longer at the club.
When the takeover was finalised, of the current squad, only Luke Young, Rob Lainton, Jordan Davies, Jake Bickerstaff and Max Cleworth remain.
Young, Lainton and Bickerstaff are all soon to be out of contract and unlikely to be retained as Wrexham look to bolster their squad for League One.
Midfielder Davies sees his contract expire next year and his future is unclear while the highly-rated Cleworth is the only player Parkinson could want to keep.
Max Cleworth could only remain from the start of the McElhenney and Reynolds tenure
It’s increasingly likely that only Cleworth – who sees his contract expire in 2025 – will be the only player who remains from the start of the McElhenney and Reynolds tenure when the season kicks off in August.
That could also depend on whether any clubs from higher up lodge a bid for the 21-year-old, otherwise, the Hollywood owners should be prioritising a new deal for the ball-playing centre-back.
Labelled a “super player” by former manager Bryan Hughes, Cleworth has shown his talent in League Two and looks destined to play at a higher level, so the Reds would be foolish not to offer him a new deal to protect their most valuable asset.