With Wrexham occupying second place in League One, the January transfer window promises to be a box-office event in the Red Dragons’ push for promotion.
Wrexham beat Lincoln City on Tuesday to climb into the automatic promotion places, but there is clearly still room for improvement if Phil Parkinson’s side are to truly cement their position as one of the promotion frontrunners.
It was an own goal that secured the victory on Tuesday, with James McClean impressing against Lincoln after he put the cross in that lead to the decisive moment.
However, if Wrexham are to stake a claim for one of the promotion places more permanently, a more reliable source of goals will be crucial. Paul Mullin has struggled this season, whilst Elliot Lee hasn’t impressed in the forward position.
It stands to reason, then, that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will look to rectify this in the January transfer window, with one Wrexham-supporting journalist urging them to make a statement signing.
Journalist urges Wrexham to use their ‘big budget’ on a striker
Speaking on the RobRyanRed podcast, journalist Nathan Salt was unwavering in his belief on what Reynolds and McElhenney should be using their money for in January.
He said: “If you’ve got a big budget in January, put it all on one player and go for a showstopper. Don’t go for three or four bodies, which I don’t think you need. You need one gem that will get you over the line.
“If you’re in the top six come January, and there’s a striker there who’s going to cost £2.5m then do it and do it early. It’ll annoy everybody but this team is so good and this team can go up.”
Undoubtedly, the rest of League One would be irritated if the Wrexham owners were to splurge the sort of figure that Salt is suggesting, but the Red Dragons may not have a choice if they are to seriously improve their forward line.
Wrexham have investment money from the Allyn family to help bolster Salt’s point, but even he displayed a tinge of caution about his ‘big budget’ claim.
Salt admits caution about the potential financial risk for Wrexham
Continuing in the podcast, Salt admitted that he does feel a level of uneasiness at the potential finances involved in bringing a star striker to the Racecourse Ground.
He said: “I’m looking at a player that is Championship calibre and is on Championship wages. The average Championship wage for a player is about £20,000 a week. That is lunacy for us right now with the players we’ve got, but that could be our reality in six or seven months.
“You could be playing Everton, or any of these Premier League teams that come down, who have got players worth tens of millions.”
However, Salt did go on to reiterate his original claim, despite his worries about the financial impact, saying: “Splash the cash on a ready-made goal machine, even if they don’t come cheap.”
There is little doubt that Wrexham have the financial muscle to bring a new star striker into the squad. The risk involved is certainly a factor, though, as any big budget signing could cause real monetary issues for the club if it were to become stagnant in League One.