Wrexham fans’ worst nightmare might be that owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney up and leave. And recently, there’s been a lot of talk about a potential sale, albeit only a part-sale.
Wrexham under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have taken the footballing world by storm, going from the National League to the Championship in four years, and going from a rather obscure football team to a globally-known one.
Welcome to Wrexham has helped put the club on the global map. But it’s the savvy business of Reynolds and McElhenney that has seen Wrexham become a financial superpower in their respective leagues, with the Dragons set to become another powerhouse in the Championship.
Recent reports have revealed how Wrexham have a £25million transfer budget this summer. Not only that, but Wrexham will pay players big money in a bid to attract some top new names, with suggestions that wages could be as high as £30,000-a-week.
Other recent reports though have revealed how Reynolds and McElhenney could sell a stake in Wrexham, potentially worth up to £350million. It’s not the first that there’s been talk about Reynolds and McElhenney selling Wrexham, in this case only a part of the club, following their £2million takeover in 2021.
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Cashing out now would make financial sense for Reynolds and McElhenney. But the two aren’t short of cash as it is, and there’s the potential to yet make even more money as Wrexham co-owners in years to come, with many predicting Wrexham can reach the Premier League in the coming years, Reynolds himself even thinks so.
If Wrexham can reach the top flight then they’d become one of the most valuable football teams in the world, given their uniqueness and the potential for marketing and so on. Speaking recently, former Wrexham player Lee Trundle spoke about how Reynolds and McElhenney have made themselves the envy of many in football, and this kind of uniqueness should entice them to stick around, and let the club’s value keep on rising.
Trundle said: “I can’t see why not, even in the next in the next few years [when asked if Wrexham can reach the Premier League]. I think that they’ll be challenging up there and I don’t think Wrexham will be in a relegation battle. I think that they will have they will have too much.
“The only other thing you’re going to get is even though Wrexham just coming up from League One, they’re a club that everyone will want to beat as well the same as Birmingham, because of the backers, and if we’re being honest, people are jealous of the clubs because as I just said before, everyone would love that ownership, so you want to beat this team especially when they’ve got their own documentary and things like that.”
Wrexham’s increasing value is evidence that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney should stay
Bought for £2million, it was claimed by football finance expert Kieran Maguire that following promotion to the Championship, Wrexham is now worth £150million as a club. So this latest £350million figure for a stake in the club should be taken with a grain of salt.
But they’re both huge numbers either way, and this £150million marks a 7400% increase from when the pair took over back in 2021. There are only estimations about how much the club would be worth given a fourth-straight promotion, but it’s sure to be a sky high number, maybe even close to the £1billion mark. The Championship play-off final alone is worth close to £200million.
For Reynolds and McElhenney then, selling a stake now could be foolish, albeit tempting given how little they paid to take over the club. As Trundle says, they have something that most football club owners can only dream of.