Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson admits there is ‘a lot of thinking to do’ before delving into the transfer market this summer.
The Red Dragons called time on their brief stay in League One on Saturday, signing off with a 2-0 win over Lincoln City. There was a party atmosphere at the LNER Stadium, with Wrexham’s promotion to the Championship confirmed the following week with a 3-0 victory over Charlton Athletic.
It’s been another remarkable campaign for the Welsh-based outfit, who were playing in the National League just two years ago. They have risen through the divisions at an incredible rate and will now join the second tier for the first time since the early 1980s.
Big Summer Ahead
Having contended for the second automatic promotion place with Wycombe Wanderers for the majority of the season, Wrexham spent big in January. They paid out close to £3 million in transfer fees for striker Sam Smith from Reading and winger Ryan Longman from Hull City, whilst also bringing in ex-England international Jay Rodriguez on a free transfer.
It is likely that more of the same will be needed this summer to be able to contest with the financial clout of some of those in the Championship, including the Birmingham City and the three teams dropping down from the Premier League. However, Parkinson admits that they will need some time to assess their options. Speaking after Saturday’s win, the 57-year-old said:
“It’s difficult to say how quickly we’ll move because we’ve got a lot of thinking to do.
“The squad number in the Championship is 25 players but that includes goalkeepers, and we lose the benefit of having a couple of under 21s last year who now count in that group, but we will navigate our way around that.
“We’ve got so sit down. We had a chat on Friday night – me, Michael Williamson, Shaun Humphrey and Humphrey Ker – but it was brief.
“The next couple of days, we need to sit down again and go through the numbers and look at what we have got to do to make us strong and competitive next season.
“We will try and keep the players we’ve got, recruit the best players we can within our budget and we will see towards the end of pre-season whether we have pieced the squad together which we believe will be competitive.
“It’s hard to say that now. Let’s assess the market and have a look.”
Writer’s View
Few will give Wrexham a chance of earning a fourth successive promotion, but they were also written off this season. However, the Championship is a different kettle of fish and they will need to recruit smartly. This is something that they have proven over the past couple of seasons, but consolidating their place in the second tier will be seen as a success.
