Wrexham reveal Eriksen's documentary concern

Denmark great Christian Eriksen eventually joined Wolfsburg after turning down Wrexham

Christian Eriksen initially rejected Wrexham's approach last summer because the Denmark great did not want to appear in the club's television documentary series, according to club chief executive Michael Williamson.

Wrexham contacted the 33-year-old midfielder when he became a free agent after leaving Manchester United as they prepared to return to the second-tier for the first time since 1982.

The club's rise from the National League under Hollywood owners Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds has been told in the award-winning 'Welcome to Wrexham' series.

Manager Phil Parkinson told BBC Sport Wales in July discussions had not progressed but now Williamson, who was on the Inter Milan board when Eriksen played for the Serie A club from 2020-21, has revealed the player's concerns.

"I reached out to the agent (Martin Schoots)," he told That Wrexham Podcast.

"And what was really interesting in the first call is the reaction was, 'We don't want his story to be in a documentary, because we've had plenty of opportunities for a documentary for his story'.

"He thought we were calling not because of his footballing capabilities, but because we wanted a documentary story (about Eriksen).

"I'm like, 'Wait a minute. I didn't even think about that'. Obviously, I'm aware of it, but that wasn't the reason we were calling."

Eriksen, who has won 146 international caps, suffered a cardiac arrest playing for Denmark at Euro 2020, but recovered to resume his stellar career.

"We were calling because he could potentially be an interesting footballer," Williamson added.

"We were looking for players that could play for us in the Championship, difference-makers that could help us be competitive on the pitch.

"After I explained what our actual objectives were, trying to build a competitive squad and that I wasn't even thinking about it from a documentary perspective, we had a great conversation."

Williamson said the idea of signing Eriksen was "kicked around", but the midfielder wanted to continue playing for a "first-tier club".

Despite missing out on on signing Eriksen - who joined Bundesliga side Wolfsburg - Williamson believes the club benefitted from their interest being made public.

Schoots admitted that Wrexham was a "hugely impressive project" despite his client turning down the chance to move to the STok Cae Ras.

"I wasn't expecting the agent to come out and say what he said because I typically expect those conversations to be confidential," Williamson said.

"But what it did was it sent a signal around the players' market... that we were serious about being competitive.

"I think that was important because a lot of people were just saying, 'OK, what's Wrexham doing? You know, they've been a little bit quiet at the start of the market, but now they want to be competitive'.

"It opened up doors and conversations to bring in players like Kieffer (Moore), Josh (Windass), (Liberato) Cacace, Lewis O'Brien, Conor Coady."

Wrexham subsequently broke their transfer record three times, spending a reported £10m on Wales striker Nathan Broadhead and £33m in total.

The Welsh club are 16th in a congested Championship table, five points from the play-offs ahead of Wednesday night's trip to play Portsmouth (20:00 GMT).

Williamson added: "It's going to take a few windows to really build a squad that is pushing for promotion. But it's only going to get better and that's what I'm excited about."