Since becoming co-owners of Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have supported manager Phil Parkinson in his efforts to bolster the team during each transfer window.
With the January transfer window just a few days away, Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has stated that the team is constantly looking to bolster its roster through trades.
Since taking over in the summer of 2021, Parkinson, 56, has completely restructured the Wrexham team, which has culminated to their promotion from the National League as winners last season. Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have contributed millions of dollars from Hollywood, which has enabled them to make some significant upgrades.
Currently in League Two, the team is only six points behind table-toppers Stockport County after finishing third over Christmas. This is good enough to secure the final automatic promotion spot. But Mansfield Town, in fourth place, has a game in hand and is only one point behind the Welsh team.
If they were to defeat Milton Keynes Dons or Forest Green Rovers in that game, which is scheduled for the New Year, Wrexham would drop into the playoff spots and they would move up to second.
League Two’s fourth and fifth places are separated by five points as a result of Crewe Alexandra and Notts County’s recent decline in performance. Wrexham has to acquire more players to make sure they are not the odd man out in a four-team shootout that is developing for the three automatic promotion spots.
The team can only sign players in January for the midseason, unlike the previous year. In contrast, Wrexham signed Andy Cannon from Hull City early in the National League season and waited until February to sign Ryan Barnett from Solihull Moors.
However, a January transfer is nothing new to them. Eoghan O’Connell from Charlton Athletic came on deadline day in January of last year.
Parkinson has not ruled out doing the same thing again throughout the winter. “I don’t want to make any predictions for January – in terms of incoming players,” he stated to The Leader.
“Our team is strong, but we are constantly searching. We are constantly looking to improve, as our fans are aware, and we are now evaluating a number of circumstances, but we are keeping things under wraps.”
On New Year’s Day, the window opens at midnight and closes at 11 p.m. on January 31. Parkinson went on, “We are simply evaluating the team as we go.
“After January 1st, we will be able to add those individuals back into the team because the 22-man squad regulation does not apply until January. We have guys returning from injuries and other players who haven’t even been included in the 22-man roster.
“We’re just keeping an eye on (Steven Fletcher) following his knee surgery, assessing Ryan Barnett’s recovery from knee ligament damage, and examining our options for January.” I’m excited to see the players return to the group.”
Fletcher entered the game as a second-half substitute, but Barnett was left off of the matchday roster for the 2-0 victory over Newport County. The former striker for the Premier League had not appeared on the field since a last-minute appearance.
