Wrexham are starting to plan for life in League One having accomplished the impressive feat of back-to-back promotions from the National League.
Phil Parkinson has guided Wrexham back into League One for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Wrexham have already announced a number of departures with the likes of Ben Tozer, Luke Young, Aaron Hayden and Jordan Tunnicliffe all leaving.
That leaves Wrexham with plenty of work to do in the summer transfer window.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds will be happy to fund new signings for Parkinson, attempting to build a squad to compete in the third tier.
There aren’t many known targets out there right now, outside of loan goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo with both Humphrey Ker and Parkinson himself confirming the interest in a permanent move.
Three new names emerged on Friday though with reports indicating that Wrexham are already trying to sign the trio of Tom Pearce, Stephen Humphrys and Josh Magennis.
Phil Parkinson past comments on Wrexham target Josh Magennis
All three players have been released by Wigan Athletic and can be signed for free this summer.
Pearce would provide competition at left wing back and Humphrys was actually linked with Wrexham in January.
Magennis is an interesting one though, given that he has already played under Wrexham boss Parkinson.
The Northern Ireland international joined Parkinson’s Bolton back in 2018 after 20 goals in 81 games at League One level.
Parkinson was delighted with the deal, praising his ‘real desire and hunger’ upon completing the move.
“We’ve been looking to add to our strike force and we’re delighted to have brought in Josh. He’s got a real desire and hunger, and we’re looking forward to working with him,” said Parkinson.
Magennis went on to play 45 times under Parkinson, recording six goals and two assists in the Championship.
Their time together wasn’t all sweetness and light though.
Speaking after an FA Cup victory over Walsall in January 2019, Parkinson called on Magennis to ‘work harder for the team’, believing that he could have done more alongside his finishing ability.
“Josh has found himself out of the team recently and those goals will do him the world of good,” said Parkinson. “But I think he can work harder for the team and do more. However, strikers want to score and if you put the ball in the right areas, Josh is a good finisher and he showed that,” he added.
Just six months later, Magennis found himself in hot water with Parkinson as he looked to leave the club amid ongoing financial woes and delayed wage payments.
Magennis suggested that he didn’t want to turn out for Bolton and his attempts to leave angered Parkinson, who admitted to a ‘rather heated exchange’ as he felt Magennis had left him in the lurch.
“Josh put in his notice like quite a few of the lads and he was obviously hugely frustrated by not being paid for five months,” said Parkinson. “He put that in, the administrators appealed against it, and there is a hearing, going forward. My gripe with Josh is that he told us just as we were walking out to training and we’d picked the team and he knew we were already struggling. We know he is a very emotional lad, and it has affected him mentally in terms of what has happened, his career, and not getting any money. We will have to wait for the hearing to see whether Josh stays or whether he goes.”
“It was quite a brief chat I had with Josh, a rather heated exchange as you’d imagine. We were already under immense stress as a management team coming into this game. But when the dust has settled over the weekend we’ll assess what damage has been done,” he added.
Magennis did end up leaving Bolton, completing a move back to the Championship with Hull City.
Parkinson and Magennis were both under real stress during that testing period together at Bolton and it may just be a case of no hard feelings, especially five years down the line.
Parkinson knows all about what Magennis provides as a player and as a character, potentially feeling that he can really fit into this Wrexham side next season.
Magennis only makes sense if Steven Fletcher isn’t staying
That familiarity could land Magennis a move to the STōK Cae Ras, but adding another experienced striker would be a strange move.
Wrexham already have two 29-year-old strikers in Paul Mullin and Jack Marriott, as well as a 32-year-old in Ollie Palmer.
Magennis turns 34 in August and his profile as a target man means that signing him only really adds up if Steven Fletcher leaves.
Fletcher has been offered a new deal to stay at Wrexham and the 37-year-old is now weighing up his options.
If the Scot signs on, Magennis surely wouldn’t be a priority as an experienced, physical forward when Parkinson would already have Palmer and Fletcher.
Magennis is a name to keep close tabs on in the coming weeks though as Wrexham look to pounce for three players let go by Wigan.
