Wrexham’s striker force has undergone some major changes in the last year, and it could have looked a lot different had one transfer been pulled off.
The 2024/25 season came to a close with Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer left out of the Wrexham squad.
Phil Parkinson has explained why he dropped Mullin and Palmer following a 3-2 defeat to Stevenage on January 28.
The latter remains at the club and has been featuring in the 2025 pre-season.
But Mullin has been loaned to Wigan amid Wrexham signing Ryan Hardie and Josh Windass, with deals for Nathan Broadhead and Kiefer Moore still in the works.
Now, a player who was eyed as a rival to two of the Dragons’ club legends has been impressing in pre-season for his new club.
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Striker Wrexham wanted to rival Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer in top form for new club
It was reported in January 2024 that Wrexham had submitted a bid for Stephen Humphrys, who was on Wigan’s books at the time and coming toward the end of his contract, as they eyed a rival for Mullin and Palmer.
He did not move to the Racecourse Ground, instead remaining with the Latics until the summer of 2024, when he left to join Barnsley for free.
Humphrys made 41 appearances for the Yorkshire club last term, scoring nine and assisting three.
However, the 27-year-old has since secured another move, joining Bradford City in July.
Humphrys has had an instant impact with Bradford, scoring his first goal in a 7-1 win over Vorwarts Steyr on July 18.
Most recently, he scored the only goal in a victory over Oldham Athletic and has since discussed his strike on Bradford’s official website.
He said this week: “It was nice to get the goal. I was able to beat a couple of men and then get a good strike away.”
Why Stephen Humphrys rejected Wrexham
Rumours linking Humphrys to Wrexham returned in May of last year before he eventually joined Barnsley.
He outscored all of the Dragons’ strikers last term, barring Sam Smith if you include his Reading goals.
And Humphrys has shared why he rejected Wrexham already, saying in November: “At the time, Wrexham had come in for me, who were paying really good wages…and I still didn’t want to leave Wigan for Wrexham. I think they put an actual bid in for me, but I didn’t want to leave Wigan, so that was Wrexham off the table.
“There was another club, in Europe, who also came in with really good money on the table. Again, I said no, I said ‘let’s get this sorted here, I want to stay’. But God’s honest truth, there wasn’t another contract offer from that day forward.
“My position was always: ‘This is where I’m at, I’m turning down more money than I’ve been offered elsewhere, I’m more than happy to stay here for less money – not less than what I was on, but less than other clubs are offering’…because I wanted to stay.”