Ollie Palmer’s Wrexham future will remain a talking point for the remainder of the summer transfer window. Will he stay or will he go?
Ollie Palmer is steadily falling down the pecking order at Wrexham. Even in the second half of last season, Palmer could barely get a game for Wrexham, as Phil Parkinson decided to exile him and fellow striker Paul Mullin.
Parkinson later explained why he exiled Palmer at the club. Parkinson said: “When we brought two strikers in January, we always knew we’d have a surplus of, and people would find themselves out of the 18-man squad because you can only have seven substitutes… So Paul and Ollie found themselves out of the 18-man squad. It’s a harder level than we’d been operating at.”
Going into this summer, it looked like Palmer would join Mullin in leaving the Racecourse, either permanently or on loan. But Palmer started Wrexham’s pre-season opener against Melbourne Victory and, to the surprise of many, he impressed.
It led to fans believing that Palmer could have a future with Wrexham, but after the signings of Ryan Hardie and then Josh Windass, it looks as though Palmer is well out of contention once again.
Still, whether or not the 33-year-old striker leaves Wrexham this summer remains to be seen.
Wrexham owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds could pay players off this summer
Recent reports have revealed how Wrexham may have to pay off some players this summer. It comes as Parkinson finds himself with an inflated first-team squad of 30 players, whilst the Championship only allows for 25 registered players.
Reports are stating then that Wrexham could be forced to pay off players, given that many in the squad are on higher wages and it will be tough to sell them. The plan is that Wrexham ‘may strike deals on transfer fees to allow the purchasing club to offer wages more on par with that with what Wrexham pay as a Championship club’, meaning the Dragons could sell players on the cheap and instead let the buying club take on the player’s higher wages.
So Palmer being out of favour and out of contract in 2026 could be one that is on the chopping block this summer, though where he might end up remains a mystery.
How much will Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have to pay Ollie Palmer to leave Wrexham?
Given the fact that Palmer is among the Wrexham players out of contract in 2026, he won’t cost as much as other players who might have longer contracts and possibly higher wages. Per Salary Sport, Palmer isn’t really one of the higher earners in the squad, earning £4,800-a-week or just under £250,000-a-year.
However, it’s understood that many of the Wrexham players would have received pay rises following promotion to the Premier League, and so Reynolds and Mac may have to pay slightly more than the remainder of Palmer’s contract in order to move him on this summer.
Taking a month out of Palmer’s contract, which runs until the end of June next year, Reynolds and Mac would have to pay at least £220,000 to move Palmer on this summer. For the club, it seems like poor financial business to have to pay off players to literally leave the club, but it’s a symptom of the rapid rise of the Football League and the constant improving of the squad.
Players come in, earn a lot of money and quickly fall out of favour, and as promotions keep on coming, Wrexham simply have to sign new and better players. But the budget remains healthy and among the best in the Championship, so paying off a number of players this summer might not be such a burden for the Dragons.