The Wrexham story is an incredible one, with so much immediate success since the Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney takeover, but they have made some mistakes.
From National League obscurity, to challenging for automatic promotion in League One in just over four years, Wrexham are flying high and fast.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s injection of cash and passion has served the Red Dragons well. Phil Parkinson now has a brilliant squad at his disposal, but it’s not all been smooth sailing.
Wrexham’s January transfer window was a trying time, with many frustrations and some success. While the club managed to improve in attack, it has also been unable to shift some of the players deemed surplus to requirements, too.
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Long contracts are killing Wrexham, but they can fix it
Indeed, over the years since the takeover, Wrexham have failed to sell a player for a fee, despite 68 players departing the club in the last four seasons.
We spoke to TBR Football’s Strategic & Operational Head of Football, Graeme Bailey, to get his expert opinion on why Wrexham struggled to offload players, and he cited their propensity for offering bumper contracts to be a big part of the problem.
Bailey said: “They pay well and sometimes that can hurt them when it comes to unloading players. It is a sign that their deals can be too long, we don’t see long-term deals offered too much at this level. But the club have come a long way very quickly and will adapt.”
| Statistic | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players signed | 15 | 10 | 7 | 14 |
| Amount spent | £491,000 | £0 | £326,000 | £4.14m |
| Players out | 16 | 19 | 18 | 15 |
| Amount received | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
Ollie Palmer is a perfect example of this. The veteran forward was offered a new contract in October of last year, and when the club seemingly wanted to move him on in the winter window, they failed to find a route out for him.
Wrexham are approaching a major turning point in their journey
Regardless of whether Wrexham get promoted this season or not, the club is facing a big fork in the road in the next year.
A number of players in the Wrexham squad are approaching an age where tough decisions will have to be made. The likes of Palmer, Paul Mullin, Steven Fletcher, James McClean, and even new signing Jay Rodriguez will all need to move on or retire in the near future.
If Wrexham stay in League One, they will really need to clear decks and reassess what it is they need to get over the line next season.
Get promoted, however, and the Wrexham owners will have to dig deep and overhaul the squad to make it Championship-ready. In either circumstance, there will be no place for passengers, especially costly ones.
Those long contracts will end soon enough, and we would imagine the Red Dragons will think again before committing to players in such a long-term and expensive manner in the future.