Premier League bound?
©IMAGO
Wrexhamcontinued their seemingly unopposed rise up the English football pyramid on Sunday, when the club secured promotion to the Championship with a 4-0 win over Charlton Athletic. Although the Red Dragons had to settle for second place in the League One title race, finishing below fellow American-owned side Birmingham City who broke the 100-point barrier, it still marks a remarkable achievement for Wrexham, who have now won promotion in each of the last three seasons.
Much has been made of the Welsh club since they were bought by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020, whose ambition for the formerNational League side not only extends to a reported stadium expansion this summer but already have their eyes set on promotion to the Premier League before they’ve even kicked a ball in England’s fiercely contested second-tier. “One season away from the Premier League? Well, that’s for tomorrow to think about,” said McElhenney in an interview with Sky Sports. “Today is just about enjoying [the promotion to the Championship]”. Reynolds then replied: “We have to wait until tomorrow?”, which then led to McElhenney responding with: “Well, yeah, I mean we can probably wait until 12:01 [am]and then tomorrow we can talk about it [promotion to the Premier League].”
All joking aside, Wrexham’s rise up the hierarchy of English football has been largely fueled by notable sums of money injected into the club from the aforementioned pair over the course of the last five years. According to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, the Hollywood duo have invested between €18-24 million in the club, which includes the initial purchase of the club, as well as infrastructure improvements, operational costs and player acquisition. However, despite the club’s healthy bank balance, Wrexham have only spent around €5.9m on transfer fees under their new owners. So how have the club managed to bag three, successive promotions without spending astronomical amounts of money on transfer fees?
From Conference to Championship: Wrexham’s impressive transfer policy
While Wrexham haven’t spent money on direct player transfers from other clubs, the Red Dragons have unquestionably made the most of salary budgets that typically outrank all other clubs in their division each season. According to the club’s recent financial results, Wrexham’s wage budget for this season stood at €8.12m per year (£6.91m) which was higher than the league average of €8m (£6.8m) according to the BBC. And that sizable wage bill has allowed the club to sign players that typically wouldn’t be available to a club of their size in each of the last five seasons.
For example, in the club’s first season under the American owners in 2020/21, Wrexham signed no less than six players from the three divisions above their own, as well as one young player from a Premier League academy. In the following two seasons in the National League, the Welsh side signed no less than 17 more players from clubs higher in the English football pyramid. And while it certainly isn’t unusual for players from League Two or the odd League One star to move down to the National League for more game time or an improved contract, the fact that Wrexham were able to stock their squad full of players used to playing at a higher standard goes some way to explaining why the club have not finished below second place in each of their last four league campaigns.
In fact, when we consider where Wrexham’s signings came from in each of the last five seasons, we can see that the club have often hoovered up players from the division above each time they’ve won promotion. As the graphic above illustrates, in their three seasons in the National League, Wrexham focused primarily on League Two players, but upon winning promotion to the division they then turned their attention to League One and Championship players. Then, with League One football confirmed for this season, Wrexham went out and signed two players from other League One clubs but, crucially, no less than four players from the Championship also joined the club. Remarkably, the club also picked up four players from Premier League clubs, albeit all four of them technically joined from youth teams and had no experience in the English top-tier.
What next for Wrexham? Aim set on promotion to the Premier League
With the Championship offering up an entirely new challenge next season, it should come as no surprise if Wrexham spend this summer not only filling their squad full of more players with experience of playing in the second tier of English football, but we could even see the club go out and sign players directly from the Premier League. However, with a planned expansion to the stadium that will add 5,500 extra seats to the Racecourse Ground this summer, signings from the Premier League could push the club’s transfer policy into a whole new level of costs.
“We haven’t really spoken about anything,” joked Wrexham manager Phil Parkson, when asked about the club potentially signing Premier League free agents like Kevin de Bruyne or Jamie Vardy after the club’s promotion win. “We’ve always got our eye on players who are free transfers and are going to be available. I think it’s interesting because the jump in salaries is incredible, mind-blowing. Even coming up to this level, the jump to get players of Championship quality is expensive.” He added: “But obviously the next level, I don’t think people outside football quite realise. They think players in League One must be multi-millionaires, but the drop-off from what people read in the press about Premier League players is huge.”
Whether the transfer strategy that got Wrexham to the Championship will now propel them to the Premier League remains to be seen, but few could doubt that the club have done so much more than simply out-spend their rivals in the lower tiers of English football. After all, the Football League is littered with clubs that once wrote blank cheques for star players, only to then watch the money dry up and with it their standing in the league table. If the club can continue to couple a healthy bank balance with smart planning, they should avoid a similar fate. But the Championship is, quite literally, a whole other league for the Red Dragons. Let’s see if they are up to the challenge.
