Wrexham had a productive winter transfer window but one call made this season may lead to summer arrivals proving difficult.
Wrexham ended the 2025 January transfer window with three new faces arriving at the Racecourse Ground.
Ryan Longman was the first name through the door and he’s since cemented himself as a key asset from the bench, assisting the winner against Crawley Town over the weekend.
The Red Dragons’ two other winter signings also featured in that victory, with Jay Rodriguez and Sam Smith both starting up front.
The duo, though very early days, look to be shrewd additions and will hopefully hand Wrexham a big boost in their hunt for second place.
While things are looking up right now, one decision made by the club and signed off by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds may lead to difficulties in the summer.
Wrexham will need more strikers in the summer
Automatic promotion remains a real possibility, while a spot in the play-offs is all but nailed on for Wrexham barring a major collapse.
As a result, there is a very real chance that, come 2025/26, the American-owned club will be gearing up to play Championship football.
And while Wrexham have previously been good at signing players capable of playing at a level above, it’s obvious their centre-forward department will need a complete overhaul.
After February 3rd, the Welsh side have been left with seven senior striker options, none of which, barring a 35-year-old Rodriguez, have any real experience in the second tier.
In turn, while it was a big issue in January, it seems obvious that more number nines will need to be signed in January as most of their current players aren’t good enough to feature for a top League One side, never mind a Championship team.
Ollie Palmer contract could prevent Wrexham making striker signings
However, with seven already at the club, it’s hard to see how the Red Dragons will be able to make room for any more number nines.
Steven Fletcher is out of contract this summer, so that will take Wrexham down to six strikers but even that is too many.
Modou Faal could be sent out on loan but if the club decided they want to bring in two Championship-level forwards, which they probably should, moving players on will prove difficult.
Smith and Rodriguez won’t leave after just arriving, Jack Marriott has earned a new contract and deserves a chance to prove himself, and Paul Mullin’s contract/ form means he’d likely be difficult to sell.
The obvious option would have been to, along with Fletcher, allow Ollie Palmer to run down his contract and depart for nothing in June.
However, despite his form not being great, Wrexham opted to hand Palmer a new deal in 2024, keeping him in Wales until 2026.
Like Mullin, his age, form, and contract are unlikely to make him an attractive proposition for anyone in the summer window and this could hamper the club’s ability to bring in a higher standard of striker.
There was no real reason to extend Palmer’s stay but it’s already been done, and it’ll be interesting to see how Wrexham navigate the summer with so many centre-forwards already on their books.