Wrexham will operate a “no superstars and no egos” policy when they target new signings for their Premier League push next season after being linked with Jamie Vardy and Kevin De Bruyne, manager Phil Parkinson said after clinching a record-breaking third promotion.
Saturday’s 3-0 win against Charlton Athletic at Stok Cae Ras sealed promotion to the EFL Championship from League One and secured Wrexham’s place in the history books as the first team in English football history to achieve promotion in three consecutive seasons.
Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney were in attendance as Wrexham confirmed promotion with Reynolds saying “our goal is to make it to the Premier League” after the game.
But Parkinson, who has recorded six career promotions as a manager, said Wrexham must be careful with their recruitment strategy as they embark on what the former Colchester, Bradford and Bolton boss claims is “one of the most competitive leagues in world football” in the Championship.
“I think everybody knows the jump [to the Championship] is huge,” Parkinson told reporters. “I remember when I took Bolton up, it was [exhales] ‘This is huge!” in terms of the physicality and power in the division.
“But I’m confident we will be well prepared for that. I think that a lot of tough decisions will be made this summer, in terms of who we bring in and how we add to this fantastic squad of lads we’ve got, but let’s see if we can build a squad to compete at that level.
“I think it’s interesting because the jump in salaries is incredible, mind-blowing. Even coming up to this level [League One], the jump to get players of Championship quality is expensive but obviously with the next level, I don’t think people outside football quite realise. They think players in League One must be multi-millionaires, but the drop-off from what people read about Premier League players when they come down, is huge.
“That is a challenge, but what we’ve always tried to do is make sure the culture in the club is right and I think that’s key — no superstars, no egos in the dressing room and we’ve got to try and get that balance right again.
“You always need extra quality when you go up a level to make sure the right people come into the building.”
Wrexham’s ability to attract players because of their owners and huge global profile on the back of the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary has seen the club linked with Premier League free agents Vardy and De Bruyne in recent days.
But Parkinson said no internal discussions about Leicester forward Vardy and Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne have taken place.
“We haven’t really spoken about anything,” Parkinson said. “We’ve always got our eye on players who are free transfers and are going to be available and will continue to do that but I think in football, recruitment it is about getting a lot of tight decisions right and I felt we did that in January when we were under a little bit of pressure because we weren’t scoring enough goals.
“To hold our nerve and get the right players in made the difference. I’m very pleased with that. “We need to evaluate in terms of the budget, the level of wages that players are going to demand and enhance that quality with the culture and what we have built here.
“So, the good thing about getting up today, is we’ve got time now to sit back, reflect on this and sit down with the owners.”