Wrexham have been surprisingly quiet in the summer transfer window, and manager Phil Parkinson has now explained why there has been a lack of incomings.
Defender Will Boyle is the only summer arrival so far despite Wrexham’s promotion to League Two, and it was previously anticipated that there would be a flurry of incomings.
Star striker Paul Mullin has now picked up a long-term injury, which should mean Wrexham dip into the market to find a solution, but there has been little headway on arrivals.
Speaking to The Leader, Parkinson explained the issues Wrexham have faced when trying to buy players.
“It’s been challenging but when you’re going for players at clubs who don’t want to sell, it’s difficult,” he stated.
“Have we missed out on anybody out of contract who I’m thinking ‘Wow we should’ve got him?’ – no. But there’s players in contracts at clubs who we’ve been trying to strike up deals for but it’s proved difficult at times but I’m sure we’ll get there.
“We’re working towards adding to the squad, however, we’ve built a team and from day one since I met the owners, we spoke about building a squad to take the club up and progress again and we’ve signed players who I believe are ready to embark on the journey with us.
How should Wrexham proceed?
Whilst the ownership of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds has done wonders for Wrexham as a whole, the issue of the club being in such a strong financial position compared to the rest of the league is the increased difficulty in negotiating signings from league rivals.
Clubs will aim to get the best possible transfer fee from Wrexham, and this could prove particularly problematic when trying to find a potentially short-term replacement for Mullin.
One solution would be to look into the free agents market, which already served them well after convincing Ben Foster to come out of retirement, and targeting unattached players who previously played in higher divisions could serve them better than trying to buy directly from other League Two clubs.