With a huge obstacle in front of co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney as they prepare for the summer transfer market in June, Wrexham FC is facing a £2 million transfer crisis.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the co-owners of Wrexham AFC, may have to make some difficult choices during the summer transfer window. At this point, over a dozen players have no contracts left on them and can opt out in the summer.
One player whose contract is up for renewal is Arthur Okonkwo, the goalkeeper. Following Ben Foster’s retirement, the 22-year-old is spending the season on loan from Arsenal. He recently made a comeback to the field following a jaw injury he sustained in late November.
Toney, 27, has been Arsenal’s main goal, according to a September report from Mirror Football, however Arteta has been experimenting with reinforcing other parts of his squad. However, the Spaniard has since made up his mind and will make an effort to force Toney to leave Brentford in the upcoming days and weeks.
Along with Okonkwo, goalkeepers Mark Howard and Rob Lainton’s contracts also will be up at the end of June. Midfielder James McClean is a player to monitor as transfermarkt has him listed at £500,000. Luke Young is the other midfielder the Welsh side will have to keep tabs on as he will be free to leave in the summer as well.
Wrexham will also have to keep an eye on their defenders as Ben Tozer, Callum McFadzean, Liam McAlinden, Luke Young, Jake Bickerstaff, Max Cleworth, Jordan Tunnicliffe, Aaron Hayden and Bryce Hosannah all will be out of contract come July.
With so many players seeing their contracts run out in the summer, it will be interesting to see how Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, in conjunction with Reynolds and McElhenney, will replenish the team. One way they can do so is by properly addressing needs during the January transfer window to cover their bases, though Parkinson has not revealed the club’s plan so far.
“I don’t want to make any predictions for January – in terms of incoming players,” Parkinson told The Leader. “We have got a strong squad, but we are always looking. As our supporters know, we are always striving to improve, and we are assessing a lot of situations at the moment, but we are keeping our cards close to our chest.”
More than anything, the 56-year-old is hoping to see what his fully healthy team will look like and perform before making any decisions on whom the team should target when the window opens on Jan. 1.
“We have got players coming back from injury, and we have got other players who haven’t even been in the 22-man squad, so once January 1 kicks in, we can then bring those players back into the squared because the 22-man squad rule doesn’t count through January,” Parkinson concluded.
“We are just seeing how [Steven Fletcher] is [after undergoing knee surgery], seeing how [Ryan Barnett] looks coming back [from knee ligament damage], and just looking at various options for January. I am looking forward to welcoming players back into the group.”
With Wrexham sitting in the thick of the promotion race, Reynolds, McElhenney and Parkinson will have to do their due diligence to ensure the club gets its second promotion. Then, they can focus on players potentially leaving in June.
