Wrexham are looking to make a real impact in the Championship as the rise under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds continues.
Wrexham are gearing up for the new Championship season, and Phil Parkinson is looking for a strong start.
Southampton will be Wrexham’s first Championship opponents, representing something of a baptism of fire.
Wrexham were beaten by Wellington Phoenix on Saturday morning, meaning the tour of Australia and New Zealand has brought one win and two defeats.
Parkinson won’t be too worried just yet, but will be keen for Wrexham to make strides in the transfer market.
Liberato Cacace has completed his move to Wrexham, and we could see Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds sanction more spending in the coming days.
Norwich City chief on Championship spending
Wrexham are swimming with some big clubs in the Championship, and spending has been huge throughout the league this summer.
Championship rivals have splashed the cash on strikers this summer, while Wrexham snapped up Ryan Hardie for just £700,000.
One of those clubs to spend huge money on a forward is Norwich City, who paid £6.9million to sign Mathias Kvistgaarden from Brondby, as noted by BBC Sport.
That may now be offset, with ESPN reporting that Norwich striker Josh Sargent is close to joining Wolfsburg in a big-money move.
Canaries owner Mark Attanasio has now commented on the spending around the Championship – and the clubs coming into the league with major financial power, which would be Wrexham and Birmingham City.
Speaking to PinkUn, Attanasio noted that some investors don’t have a successful track record of sports ownership.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds certainly fit that bill upon arriving at Wrexham in 2021, but they have certainly made their investment a success.
Attanasio didn’t name clubs, but Wrexham and Birmingham are certainly the clubs looking to make an impact after promotion from League One.
Attanasio believes that his record in Major League Baseball stands him in good stead with Norwich, even if he is adjusting to more player movement in football.
“You need a lot of things, and we’re very respectful of all the clubs that have come in with capital,” said Attanasio. “We’re also respectful of the fact that sometimes you can just have good luck or bad luck.
“Someone told me: ‘When someone tells you with all due respect, be careful.’ But with all due respect to some of the rich people coming into it, they haven’t run a sports organisation. We’ve run one for 21 years, so I think in some cases they don’t know what they don’t know. We’ve got to be where we want to be, and it’s all about that. We’ve got a scorecard.
“But we compete in baseball with the smallest market. We’ve got the fourth-most wins in Major League Baseball this year, and all the other teams have between $250million and $500million payrolls – we have $120million plus taxes. So some of the differentiation doesn’t daunt me, but we do have to deal with a lot more player movement here,” he added.
MLB owner set to battle Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds
As mentioned above, Attanasio comes from a baseball background.
Some of Wrexham’s American fans may be aware of Attanasio, who is the principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers in Major League Baseball.
Attanasio worked on behalf of an investment group to purchase the Brewers in a huge $223million deal back in 2004.
The Brewers have yet to win a World Series title, but have won the Central Division title on five occasions in the Attanasio era.
Attanasio first became involved in Norwich City back in 2022, first becoming a director before taking an 18% stake in the club.
That was increased to 40.4%, and Attanasio became the majority shareholder with an 85% stake in October 2024.
Now in his first summer transfer window as Norwich owner, Attanasio is learning a lot about the Championship landscape.
American investment in the EFL is growing, and this means McElhenney and Reynolds will lock horns with Attanasio over the course of the Championship season – and the Wrexham duo would love to claim bragging rights.