The end of the season is now just days away for Wrexham and Phil Parkinson can start planning for life in League One.
Wrexham secured promotion to League One last weekend, smashing Forest Green Rovers 6-0 at the STōK Cae Ras.
Few could have blamed Wrexham for already being on the beach – or in Las Vegas – for Saturday’s trip to Crewe Alexandra.
Wrexham showed no mercy though, racking up an impressive 3-0 win over play-off chasing Crewe.
Fans were able to celebrate one last away win in League One and there is just one game left to play before the summer.
Champions Stockport County head to the STōK Cae Ras this weekend with both clubs already promoted.
Wrexham will hope to finish the season on a high and head into the third tier with another victory before the attention turns to the summer transfer window.
Phil Parkinson on Wrexham test
The jump from League Two to League One feels bigger than the one from the National League to League Two.
Wrexham will be facing some big clubs in League One and having only been in the National League a year ago, major reinforcements will be needed.
The rapid nature of Wrexham’s rise means the level of the squad needs to be raised this summer and this will be a hugely important window for the club’s progress.
Boss Phil Parkinson has now been speaking on TalkSPORT and commented on the club’s plans for the summer window.
Parkinson noted that Wrexham are now making a big jump forward and that poses a major test for the club.
Parkinson feels that Wrexham have to be absolutely spot on with recruitment this summer in order to challenge with League One clubs.
The Wrexham boss is though wary of ruining the ‘spirit’ in the Wrexham dressing room, seemingly wanting to balance new recruits with the squad built up over the last couple of years.
“How can we go? I think League One is a bigger jump than going from National League to League Two, so we’ve got a big test in this summer, we really have,” said Parkinson. “We’ve got to recruit well, we’ve got to maintain the spirit we’ve built over the last two years, but whilst always being honest – you’ve got to improve each time you go up, so that’s the challenge for us and it’s one I’m really excited about taking on,” he added.
Wrexham transfer window preview
The first port of call will be to sort out the out-of-contract players.
The likes of Rob Lainton, Mark Howard, Ben Tozer, Jordan Tunnicliffe, Aaron Hayden, Luke Young and James McClean are all free to leave Wrexham this summer.
We can’t see too many of them staying, leaving Wrexham to bring in a number of new faces.
A goalkeeper will be needed as Arthur Okonkwo’s loan spell from Arsenal comes to an end this summer.
The hope is that Okonkwo will sign permanently for Wrexham but alternative targets need to be in mind in case he moves elsewhere.
Defensive reinforcements are required whilst a midfielder would be needed to replace Young if he leaves.
A playmaker should be a priority in terms of adding competition for Elliot Lee whilst Parkinson may consider another attacking threat, maybe a player with some real pace.
Wrexham have gone down the route of adding experienced, proven players to achieve successive promotions but adding players with potential resale value should now be a focus too.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds may need to dig deep this summer in order to improve the Wrexham squad and Parkinson is clearly hoping for major additions.