Sheffield United once spent ‘eight times’ Wrexham budget, now Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac are outspending them

Add as preferred source on Google

Wrexham have enjoyed a remarkable rise through the divisions since Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac took on stewardship of the club in 2021.

The Welsh outfit ended a decade-long stint in National League wilderness in 2023, and have since risen up the Football League ranks at record pace. Thanks to consistent financial backing from the club owners, and the brilliant management of the team itself by Phil Parkinson, Wrexham have earned record-breaking back-to-back-to-back promotions in recent years and now find themselves in the Championship for the first time in 43 years.

In order to continue this ascent up the divisions, and achieve Ryan Reynolds’ ultimate goal of becoming a Premier League club, Wrexham have continued to spend big this summer.

Since the transfer window opened, the Welsh outfit have competed financially with the Championship big guns, smashing their previous transfer record set with the signing of Sam Smith in January 2025 by forking out for Lewis O’Brien, and Nathan Broadhead.

The spend on the club’s playing staff is certainly a far cry from where it once was in the early years of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s ownership of the club.

Humphrey Ker highlighted the financial disparity between Wrexham and Championship clubs in 2023 FA Cup run

Rob and Ryan actually got their first taste of facing Championship opposition while Wrexham were in the National League during the 2022/23 season, thanks to the FA Cup.

Having seen off Oldham Athletic and Farnborough in the first two rounds of the cup, Parkinson’s men were handed a tricky away trip to face Championship side Coventry City in the third round.

Speaking in season two of Welcome to Wrexham, Humphrey Ker was keen to highlight not just the disparity in divisions between the two teams, but also the financial disparity between a team in the National League and one in the Championship:

“So how big is the gap between Wrexham and Coventry? Well, other than the fact that they’re two full leagues above us, obviously, their wage bill is almost double ours and their stadium holds three times the capacity. It’s pretty big.”

Despite all of this, Wrexham were able to achieve a famous 4-3 win over Coventry City in January 2023, booking a fourth round tie with another Championship club in Sheffield United.

Ahead of the fourth round tie, Ker once again described the huge gap between the two sides, saying: “Remember the financial disparity between us [Wrexham] and Coventry City? How they were double our wages? Well, Sheffield United has eight times our wages.”

Wrexham once again managed to go toe-to-toe with Championship opposition in the fourth round, forcing a replay before losing 3-1 at Bramall Lane.

Wrexham have spent more than Sheffield United and Coventry City combined in 2025 summer transfer window

Fast forward just two-and-a-half years, and Wrexham now find themselves competing against both Sheffield United and Coventry City on the pitch, and gazumping them both off it in the transfer market.

Rather remarkably, Wrexham are the biggest spenders in the Championship so far this summer, forking out a reported £23.5m on new signings – including record buy Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich Town.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United have spent just under £2m and Coventry have spent around £3.5m. Those figures equate to Wrexham having paid £18m more on new signings than two Championship stalwarts in Sheffield United and Coventry City.

Only one other team in the Championship has spent over £20m during the 2025 summer window thus far, with Norwich City spending £21.5m on new signings.