An exciting summer awaits Wrexham supporters as they prepare for plenty of incomings and two positions will be on their agenda.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds will be arming Phil Parkinson with the funds to bolster his squad.
Wrexham are preparing for several emotional goodbyes as Luke Young, Ben Tozer and Aaron Hayden look as though they are on their way out of the club, while plenty will be coming in.
We’ve only just entered May but the rumours have started to swirl as the Reds have been linked with Notts County’s Macaulay Langstaff and Loughall’s Benji Magee.
Improving at striker is high up on the list of preferences for Parkinson this summer as he seeks a long-term partner for Paul Mullin, leaving him with plenty of key decisions to make.
Phil Parkinson’s striker conundrum at Wrexham
Including Accrington Stanley loanee Jake Bickerstaff, Wrexham currently have six strikers on the books; Mullin, Steven Fletcher, Ollie Palmer, Sam Dalby and Jack Marriott.
The club will likely sanction loan or permanent moves for Daly and Bickerstaff, but the biggest decision McElhenney and Reynolds will have to make is who to keep out of Fletcher and Palmer.
Ex-Premier League striker Fletcher, 37, is out of contract this summer and isn’t a long-term option for the club while Palmer, 32, is under contract till 2025, leaving the Wrexham hierarchy with a difficult conundrum to resolve.
It is clear that Parkinson likes to play with a tall and physical striker next to Mullin; it’s just whether he decides to offer Fletcher an extension or let him become a free agent.
Wrexham can ‘thrive’ if Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds invest in two positions
As highlighted by their striker situation, investing in a partner for Mullin is a priority and Wrexham will want a player who is a proven goal scorer in League One such as Jonson Clarke-Harris or Lee Gregory.
There are other fires to burn out in Parkinson’s squad, though, including the future of Arthur Okonkwo.
Wrexham are ‘desperate’ to sign the Arsenal goalkeeper permanently but face strong competition from Championship clubs and teams abroad.
Regardless of whether Okonkwo remains at the STōK Cae Ras, investing in a goalkeeper is their next priority, which is a sentiment shared by the Athletic journalist Richard Sutcliffe.
He praised Palmer for getting the best out of Mullin towards the end of the season but thinks if Wrexham are going to ‘thrive’, they’ll need to sign a new striker and a goalkeeper.
Speaking on the Rob Ryan Red podcast, Sutcliffe said: “He’s [Ollie Palmer] brought the best out of Mullin in these final three months, there’s no doubt about that.
“They work so well together but League One is a big step up. He’s had a year there with Wimbledon but that was three years ago; he’s had his injury problems and he had a spell out over Christmas when nobody seemed to know when he would come back.
“He came back and did the job but if they are going to thrive next season, I do think it is striker and goalkeeper that needs sorting.”
Wrexham will be looking to assemble a squad that can challenge for the top six at least, and signing a goalkeeper and striker first is the main priority.