The Championship record for one Wrexham star doesn’t make for pleasant reading and he’ll have something to prove under Phil Parkinson.
Wrexham will play in the Championship in the 2025/26 season for the first time since the 1981/82 season, where they had risen to the second tier of English football.
It has been a meteoric rise for Wrexham to shoot up through the EFL, especially having lain low in the National League for so many years.
Nonetheless, the Dragons will not be settling for mediocrity next season; Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have already made their ambitions for the upcoming campaign clear and that will likely be met with a surge in recruitment.
On top of the several players that will undoubtedly come through the doors of the Racecourse Ground, Phil Parkinson will no doubt trust the core of his squad to take their game to the next level and fit into the Championship. However, one Wrexham star has previous in the Championship, something that will give him something to prove, given how it went last time for him.
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Andy Cannon will need to prove Championship worth to Phil Parkinson at Wrexham
Andy Cannon signed for Wrexham in the National League and was able to play a significant role to ensure that Parkinson’s side notched promotion to League Two.
In the following campaign, Cannon became a prominent member of the starting side, notching a respectable six goals and five assists in League Two.
Unfortunately for Cannon, opportunities were rather more sparse last season, which was further hampered due to his injury issues in the back end of the year.
It will be difficult for the midfielder to get fully back up to speed, and more so, he will have to do it in the Championship, where he has struggled previously in his campaign.
Cannon arrived in North Wales from Hull City, another Championship side who made him surplus to requirements. Having tallied just five starts across two and a half Championship seasons before, Parkinson may take some persuading to believe that Cannon can once again take his game up a notch, especially after coming back from such a major injury.
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Midfield uncertainties may explain key Wrexham transfer strategy
Unsurprisingly, it is clear that Wrexham will be keen to get their transfer business done early this season to gear up as best as possible for the Championship season.
This would explain the several Championship and Premier League-experienced players that the Dragons have already been linked with. The majority of names linked so far appear to be both strikers and midfielders; the latter isn’t surprising when looking at the options available to Parkinson.
There is no doubt about Cannon’s quality and what he has done for Wrexham so far, but he will need to be on top form to tie down a starting spot in Parkinson’s side, especially if the Wrexham boss brings in reinforcements in the centre of the park.