Former Crystal Palace owner and current talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has questioned whether Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds has the financial muscle to compete higher up the football pyramid.
Wrexham have been completely transformed as a football club since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney tookover in 2021.
The Hollywood superstars have backed manager Phil Parkinson in the transfer market, allowing him to strengthen his squad with high-profile signings such as Steven Fletcher and James McClean.
The duo have also focused on implementing state-of-the-art facilities at the football club and have sought to redevelop the Kop stand, which will be completed by 2025.
That isn’t to mention the amount of investment they’ve brought into the club, having acquired United Airlines to replace TikTok as a front-of-shirt sponsor at the start of this season.
However, the biggest money maker for the Reds has been the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary, which has significantly boosted the club’s profile overseas.
Shaun Harvey revealed that alongside Disney raking in £400,000 per episode, approximately 5000 households in the United States are now tuning in to watch Wrexham on iFollow.
Despite the amount of money that the Wrexham owners have pumped into the club, former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan has still raised eyebrows over their financial power.
Simon Jordan questions the finances of Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds
After it was revealed that the EFL secured a huge TV deal worth £148m to showcase more matches overseas, Jordan felt the Championship was the driving force behind that success and not Wrexham.
The 56-year-old has now questioned whether Reynolds boasts the financial muscle to compete if the Reds were to get promoted to the second tier.
“I do not decry the impact and the effect they are having on their football club,” Jordan said on talkSPORT. “My question is when it gets expensive, and I mean, really expensive because this time last year we were hearing them say ‘if we didn’t get promoted, it’s existential, because that million quid it would have cost us was an existential threat.
“What? Make your mind up, you’ve either got a load of money and you’re a keen investor, or a million quid is a big sum of money. Ultimately, if you’re going to get to the Championship and you’re going to compete, you’re going to be spending 10’s and millions of pounds.”
Jordan’s concern over Reynolds is born from him saying that Wrexham wouldn’t have been unsustainable if they didn’t get promoted from the National League last term as they were heavily invested in building the club and the stadium itself.
Now they’ve been promoted and are pushing for promotion to League One, currently three points off leaders Mansfield, those worries have been alleviated.
Contrary to what Jordan thinks, Wrexham would be able to compete at Championship level, especially given the huge investment Reynolds would be able to attract.
And whilst it’s in League Two, he’s proven that he isn’t afraid to back his manager and that isn’t likely to change with the more success they achieve.