Wrexham - fantasy football or playing with fire?

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over then National League Wrexham in February 2021

Less than a year ago, Wrexham hadn't come close to spending a million pounds on a player.

It seems they're making up for lost time.

As 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 busy.

Eight new players in - including three who were at the last World Cup - and about £12m paid out.

Already 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 £7.5m.

And that's before the dramatic bump to the wage bill to land the likes of Conor Coady and Kieffer Moore.

Even for a club now used to moving up divisions, this summer has been supercharged.

But 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'

Ben Tozer (left) was one of Ryan Reynolds' early signings as Wrexham began their climb through the leagues

"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 promotions.

He was among the first of 10 players signed prior to the first full season of the club's Hollywood ownership, in the first summer under manager Phil Parkinson.

Four years on, the club have tweaked their model of persuading players from a division above to drop down to join.

As 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 in the top half of the Championship.

Hence former promotion winners Coady and Moore from Leicester City and Sheffield United, both for about £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 £5m.

Moore's 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 about £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

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been joined on the Wrexham board by Kaleen Allyn (centre) after investment from her wealthy New York-based family

Instead, there's room for more.

With other clubs - such as Ipswich, with the £30m they bagged for selling Liam Delap to Chelsea - using player sales to offset transfers, Wrexham are - remarkably - living within their means.

And not because of the pockets of their A-list owners.

That might seem hard to believe for a club who will have the smallest attendance in the division, given the redevelopment of their Stok Cae Ras home.

But not when you consider the incredible revenue resulting from the global audience their unique ownership brings 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 £26.7m.

The 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 year.

To put it into context, only five Championship clubs in 2023-24 (the most recent season for published accounts) earned more - and all benefited from parachute payments.

Wrexham 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'

An image of what the new Kop Stand, which Wrexham say has been designed to create a new home end for their fans, would look like

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 academy.

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 needed.

But 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, and therefore something they are prepared to spend to maintain.

"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 targets over their rivals.

And the current Wales Under-21s assistant manager believes Wrexham boss Parkinson deserves credit 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 Athletic, Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland boss to constantly evolve his squad - even 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 says.

The 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 high-profile Wrexham - with Moore, Ward and O'Brien all ticking the box, not to mention the likes of James McClean and Jay Rodriguez who are already at the club.

Punching above their weight

Wrexham beat rivals Charlton to secure promotion as runners-up to League One winners Birmingham City

Whether all this means Wrexham will be able to compete against sides recently in the Premier League, still remains to be seen.

Even if Wrexham haven't always needed it, the club's hierarchy has previously mentioned needing three transfer windows to really establish themselves in a new division.

And 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 10 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.