Wrexham fans will be glad Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds did not heed a warning given to them by Shaun Harvey ahead of trying to complete one deal.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have now been owners of Wrexham for just over four years, purchasing the club in February 2021.
Things did not go to plan during their first few months at the Racecourse Ground as the club missed out on a spot in the play-offs on the final day of the 2020/21 campaign.
With it clear a rebuild was needed, Wrexham set about revamping their squad and changing their manager for the upcoming campaign.
Phil Parkinson arrived in the dugout following successful, promotion-winning spells with the likes of Bolton Wanderers.
Meanwhile, a number of new faces were brought to Wales during the 2021 summer transfer window.
Shaun Harvey sent Paul Mullin warning to Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds
In total, Wrexham signed 10 players in that window, including former club captain Ben Tozer.
However, the most notable arrival during Rob and Ryan’s first window was Paul Mullin.
| Player | Signed from | |
| Ben Tozer | Cheltenham | |
| Paul Mullun | Cambridge United | |
| Shaun Brisley | Port Vale | |
| Liam McAlinden | Morecambe | |
| Harry Lennon | Southend United | |
| Bryce Hosannah | Leeds United (U21) | |
| Jake Hyde | Halifax Town | |
| James Jones | Lincoln City | |
| Aaron Hayden | Carlisle United | |
| Charlie Trafford | Free agent |
Mullin’s arrival in Wales was shocking given the fact he’d scored 34 goals for Cambridge United in the previous season and won promotion to League One.
Prior to him signing, a discussion between the Wrexham owners, Humphry Ker and Shaun Harvey took place and was shown in Season 1 Episode 3 of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham‘ documentary.
During the chat, Harvey warned Wrexham would need to throw everything at Mullin to convince him to join, which would break the budgets they had put in place for the season.
He said: “There needs to be a little bit of expectation management. The top goalscorer in League Two should be going to the Championship or the top end of League One.
“Just be careful in how you set this up because Paul Mullin should be unachievable for Wrexham Football Club.
“It’s certainly going to be very, very difficult. He’ll take some persuading even if you threw everything at him, and if we do throw everything at him, the budgets that we’ve set will go completely out the window.”
Reynolds sarcastically responded: “That’s what I was hoping to hear.”
How Paull Mullin reacted to signing for Wrexham
Mullin’s exact Wrexham wage is not known, but fans will agree that Rob and Ryan made the right call convincing him to join.
He’s scored over 100 goals for the club, finishing as their top scorer in the previous three seasons.
| Season | Paul Mullin Wrexham goals (all competitions) |
| 2021/22 | 28 |
| 2022/23 | 46 |
| 2023/24 | 26 |
| 2024/25 | 5 |
On joining Wrexham in July 2021, Mullin said at the time he was ‘buzzing’ to be part of the ‘big project’ Ryan and Rob had started.
Mullin’s future has been called into question this season now that he’s fallen out of favour and scored just three league goals in 2024/25.
But no matter what happens going forward, it’s clear Wrexham would not be where they are today without the 30-year-old’s goals.