Wrexham ‘definitely did’ try to sign 11-goal player before transfer to League One rivals, say Shaun Harvey

Add as preferred source on Google

Wrexham were unable to sign one player who enjoyed a very solid 2024/25 League One season.

Wrexham were very active across the latest summer and winter transfer windows.

As well as the free agents picked up mid-season, the Red Dragons brought a total of 15 new players to the Racecourse Ground.

Of those, many have since gone on to impress and played key roles in the club’s most recent promotion.

Ollie Rathbone was Wrexham’s Player of the Season after signing from Rotherham United in what was a record deal at the time.

Elsewhere, Sam Smith signed for £2m, going on to net some crucial goals in the latter half of the 2024/25 League One campaign.

Shaun Harvey discussed Wrexham trying to sign Smith prior to this year recently, and has also shared the name of one player the club could not get a deal over the line for.

Wrexham missed out on John McAtee transfer

Wrexham tried to sign John McAtee in the most recent summer transfer window when he was contracted to Luton Town.

Rob McElhenney praised McAtee previously when the player was on loan at Grimsby Town back in 2022.

In the end, however, the 25-year-old opted to join Bolton Wanderers last August, going on to score 11 goals and provide three assists in 45 League One games across 2024/25.

Now, when speaking at a live event with the Fearless In Devotion podcast that was published this week, Harvey opened up on Wrexham’s failed pursuit of McAtee.

He said when asked about players the club have missed out on: “We’ve not actually missed out on many.

“We definitely did try to sign McAtee before he went to Bolton, and he’s probably the player that we probably made the biggest offer for that didn’t happen.

“But to be honest I think when we look back at it, we always thought he was always going to go to Bolton, and it was a little bit like you know we were creating a market, we were part of creating a market for it, and that happens a lot.

“So, probably McAtee. I can’t think of a single player that is now playing against us that we hoped to sign that we didn’t.”

John McAtee stats compared to Wrexham forwards

Wrexham struggled for much of the season to score goals.

That issue was solved in January, though, with the addition of Smith from Reading.

McAtee, who played as a striker and number 10 for Bolton in 2024/25, outscored every Wrexham forward in the league, with Smith being the only exception if you include his strikes for the Royals.

Elliot Lee, who, like McAtee, was used up front and as a midfielder across the season, ended the most recent campaign as the club’s top scorer in all competitions with nine.