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Wrexham - fantasy football or playing with fire?
Less than a year ago, Wrexham hadn't come close to spending a million pounds on a seems they're making up for lost the Championship prepares to kick-off – and Wrexham prepare for their first game at this level in more than 40 years – the north Wales club have been new players in – including three who were at the last World Cup – and around £12m paid estimated to be among the biggest net spenders in the division, it will be more should they land Ipswich Town's Nathan Broadhead in a deal worth as much as £ that's before the dramatic bump to the wage bill to land the likes of Connor Coady and Kieffer for a club now used to moving up divisions, this summer has been some have wondered how even the club of Hollywood pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are managing it?So, with an unthinkable fourth successive promotion the reward, are Wrexham playing real-life fantasy football – or are they playing with fire in their ongoing bid to reach the Premier League? 'They've given the gaffer the freedom and trust' "They're not hanging around, are they?" laughs Ben Tozer, the defender who captained Wrexham to the first two of their back-to-back-to-back was among the first of ten players signed prior to the first full season of the club's Hollywood ownership, in the first summer under manager Phil years on, the club have tweaked their model of persuading players from a division above to drop down to director Shaun Harvey recently told goalkeeper-turned-podcaster Ben Foster, signing current Premier League players on Premier League wages was not possible, so the club instead looked at those at the top-half of the former promotion winners Coady and Moore from Leicester City and Sheffield United, both for around £2m each. There was Lewis O'Brien from Nottingham Forest who was among Swansea City's players of the season after moving to south Wales on loan in January. Wrexham were said to have blown their Welsh rivals out of the water when it came to their bid to sign him permanently, with the deal reported as being between £3m and £ fellow Wales international Danny Ward returned to his hometown club on a 'Bosman', with Josh Windass also a free but no doubt on decent wages after his contract at Sheffield Wednesday ended. On top of that there was the New Zealand international Liberato Cacace fresh from three years in Serie A with Empoli, Plymouth striker Ryan Hardie and Bolton midfielder George Thomason. The reported cost for the four signings coming to around £4m."You have to give the owners credit because it would be easy to back off and consolidate after the last few years," added Tozer."But they've given the gaffer the freedom and trust to sign whoever he wants – and it's a different calibre of players."And it's not as if they're running themselves into the ground financially." No concerns over PSR rules Instead, there's room for other clubs – such as Ipswich's £30m exit of Liam Delap – using player sales to offset transfers, Wrexham are – remarkably – living within their not because of the pockets of their A-list may seem hard to believe for a club who will have the smallest attendance in the division given the redevelopment of their Stok Cae Ras not when you consider the incredible revenue numbers, thanks to the global audience their unique ownership gives them. In League Two the money coming in - boosted by big sponsorship deals and commercial activity - was already on a par with many Championship clubs at £26.7mThe next set of accounts is expected to show an uplift of as much as £10m on that. A recent Bloomberg report suggested Wrexham could be looking at turnover of £50m for this coming put it into context, only five clubs in 23-24 (the most recent season for published accounts) earned more – and all benefited from parachute have made losses in recent years, but relatively minor ones – meaning the club is nowhere near worrying about falling foul of profit and sustainability rules (PSR).It's why when Wrexham sources say this summer's outlay has been planned for and budgeted – even having to go from £11m wages in 23-24 to competing with a Championship average of £37m – there is no reason to think they're suddenly going out on a limb. 'Riding the crest of a wave' There are, of course, other investments such as the stadium development, the purchase of a local stadium for the women's team, and plans for the training ground and Tozer admits there might have been the temptation for the club to stand still a little to both catch its breath and catch up with the infrastructure improvements if consolidation is not a favoured word at the Cae Ras (by order of McElhenney), momentum is a phrase many have repeated. It's something seen as priceless for which they are prepared to spend to keep."They are riding the crest of a wave and in front of them is this opportunity to do something that would be up there with the greatest stories and achievements in football," says Neil Taylor, the former Wales defender who began his career with hometown club Wrexham before twice winning promotion from the Championship with Swansea and Aston Villa."It feels like they've said 'Let's give this a go' – and with the finance they have and the money they can generate, why not?"And they have a chance because I don't think you can underestimate the feeling and culture they've built around the place that is just not there at other clubs."It's why, Taylor says, players are asking agents to engineer moves to north Wales and why they can attract over why the current Wales Under-21as assistant believes manager Parkinson deserves credit – and has earned trust – for his careful selection of who to bring into the dressing room."He can smell a bad guy a mile off," adds Tozer, who admits it can be tough to keep the same spirit through change, but backs Parkinson to do it again. "He does a lot of work on who he signs, and he's been in the game so long he uses those contacts to make sure he knows he has the right people coming in."It has allowed the former Charlton Atheltic, Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland boss to constantly evolve his squad – even managing culling cult hero Paul Mullin along the way, and navigating the tricky issue of the imbalance of wages suddenly created by a Championship spending spree."If you get the right guys, which Wrexham have, then you keep to the right standards, and no-one is worried about a slightly flashier car being at the training ground," Taylor signing of Coady is seen as a perfect example - a respected and popular figure who was praised for his qualities off the field when he was in England's squads at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup."I was so happy when he signed," adds Tozer. "He is a massive piece of the jigsaw because he will help sort the dressing room and keep those standards and everyone singing off the same hymn sheet."Then there is the experience Parkinson likes - handling big crowds, the Championship demands and the expectation of playing for big-profile Wrexham - with Moore, Ward and O'Brien all ticking the box, not to mention the likes of James McClean and Jay Rodriguez already at the club. Punching above their weight Whether all this means Wrexham will be able to compete up against sides recently in the Premier League, still remains to be if they haven't always needed it, the club's hierarchy have previously mentioned needing three transfer windows to really find themselves in a new Parkinson will stick to the line that promotion talk is for others, while he hopes to have a greater idea of where Wrexham might stand at the end of August after they face three teams from last year's top-half following the opening day at recently relegated Southampton."It will be a step up," reminds Taylor. "At Swansea it took us a year or two to get to grips with it, but you know you're rarely out of it in that division."At Villa, we'd not been good enough for seven months and then won ten in a row to get to the play-offs."They are punching above their weight, but they can still aim for the play-offs."And if they can stay there or thereabouts, they can always back themselves in January."Judging by efforts so far, it doesn't appear that Wrexham are about to put a price on ambition.
