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 and has just made a comeback to the field following a jaw injury sustained in late November.
With Wrexham, Okonkwo has made 13 appearances, giving up 10 goals while keeping seven clean sheets. As things stand, Okonkwo is the player Reynolds and McElhenney will need to watch the most closely since, according to transfermarkt, he should be valued £2 million.
At the end of June, the contracts of goalkeepers Mark Howard and Rob Lainton will also expire, in addition to Okonkwo. James McClean, a midfielder, is a guy to keep an eye on since his transfermarkt listing values him at £500,000. The other midfield player the Welsh team will need to watch is Luke Young, who is free to depart in the summer.
Parkinson told The Leader, “I don’t want to make any predictions for January – in terms of incoming players.” “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.”
Above all, the 56-year-old wants to wait to make any conclusions about who the team should target when the window opens on January 1 in order to see what his completely healthy team will look like and play.
“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 said.
“We are merely monitoring [Steven Fletcher’s] condition [after knee surgery], observing [Ryan Barnett’s] recovery [from knee ligament damage], and merely examining our alternatives for January. I’m excited to see the players return to the group.”
Reynolds, McElhenney, and Parkinson will need to exert extra effort to make sure Wrexham receives its second promotion since the team is right in the heart of things in the promotion fight. After that, they may concentrate on the players who might depart in June.
