For the first time in over 40 years, Wrexham are set to embark upon a campaign in England’s second division in 2025/26.
Wrexham have been on a remarkable journey – fully documented in docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham‘ – since Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds purchased the club back in 2021. Thanks to their huge cash injection into the club, Wrexham have enjoyed a meteoric rise through the divisions, earning record-breaking back-to-back-to-back promotions.
Now, the Welsh outfit find themselves in the Championship, just one division shy of Rob and Ryan’s ultimate goal of promotion to the Premier League.
The Championship will undoubtedly be Rob and Ryan’s biggest challenge with Wrexham to date. That’s thanks in large part to the level of finances needed in order to compete in the division, and the massive step up in quality it will be from League One too.
News of a £40m cash windfall thanks to promotion will certainly help, but there is plenty of work that needs to be done during the offseason in order to get Wrexham Championship ready.
Here’s three things the club need to prioritise in the transfer window.
Wrexham need to sign a Championship-proven goalscorer
It’s no secret that the club are on the lookout for some added firepower during the upcoming summer transfer window, with it recently being reported that Wrexham are keen to sign a striker with ‘proven Championship experience’.
Luckily for Phil Parkinson and co., there seem to be a few interesting options on the market. Wrexham have already been linked with a number of forwards, including Cardiff City’s star man Callum Robinson. Following Cardiff’s relegation to League One, club chairman Mehmet Dalman has admitted that a number of players will likely be sold, with many speculating that Robinson could be one of those players.
Robinson certainly has the Championship pedigree Parkinson is looking for, with the striker netting a career-high 12 goals in the division during the 2024/25 campaign, taking his lifetime tally to 61 goals in 272 games.
Along with Robinson, Wrexham have also been consistently linked with a move for Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford. The striker was previously linked with a move to Wales in January, with the club missing out on the signing and making a club-record splash to sign Sam Smith instead.
Now in the Championship, the club are said to have a much better chance of signing Bamford.
Although not a regular for the promoted Leeds United during the 2024/25 campaign, Bamford has previously been a consistent goal-getter in the second division. In total, the striker has managed 69 goals in the Championship, and even previously enjoyed a 17-goal campaign in the Premier League too.
Tom Lawrence should be a priority
There’s no doubting the fact that Wrexham’s success in 2024/25 was built upon their stoic defence as opposed to a free-scoring attack.
The stats prove as much.
While Wrexham boasted the second best defence in League One, their attack was only the ninth best in the division according to goals scored. In terms of goals per 90 minutes, it was actually the 11th best.
That low goals tally was largely thanks to Parkinson’s side’s relative struggles to create big chances, managing the 12th best number in the league.
With those stats in mind, it’s clear that Wrexham are in need of a creative spark plug in the middle of their team, and free agent Tom Lawrence would be the ideal man for the job.
The Wrexham-born Wales international’s contract at Rangers recently expired and The Wrexham Insider understands that the club have ‘genuine interest’ in signing Lawrence.
Phil Parkinson should sign a James McClean alternative
While club captain James McClean has been a consistent performer for Wrexham in recent seasons, thanks to the Derry man’s advancing years it’s clear that Parkinson shouldn’t be relying on him to play every game of a 46-game Championship season.
It makes sense, therefore, that Wrexham have been linked with a few different wing-backs already after securing promotion.
The most recent, and most exciting, wing-back who has been linked with a move to the Racecourse Ground is Ryan Creswell. The long-serving West Ham player, who featured in the club’s famous UEFA Europa Conference League triumph in 2023, is set to become a free agent this summer, making him a viable option to Wrexham.