Wrexham have become a very attractive club for players to join in the last four years.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ arrival has seen Wrexham transformed on the pitch and behind the scenes.
The prospect of playing for a side with such exposure could be appealing, but one of the main positives at the club now, by all accounts, is the atmosphere manager Phil Parkinson has been able to create.
Ryan Reynolds praised Wrexham’s dressing room in a recent interview, saying ‘Phil, he’s got a dressing room that I’d argue is the best dressing room in sports. And I say that unblinking to other professional athletes in other sports. That room is a place where it is all for one and one for all, and it’s like nothing else, and I think that’s core values, actual value.’
The mood inside the club is so positive that one recent arrival was even told to take a pay cut after he learned of transfer interest.
Ryan Longman was told to take pay cut after Wrexham transfer interest
Wrexham signed three players in the 2025 winter transfer window: Sam Smith, Jay Rodriguez, and Ryan Longman.
Longman arrived for around £500,000, and has since become a key figure at wing-back, scoring his first goal on the final day of the season.
Now, Humphrey Ker has said this week, when speaking on the High Performance podcast, that Andy Cannon told the former Hull City man to ‘take a pay cut’ to come to Wrexham.
Ker stated: “I just met all our January signings who’ve been there for 5-6 weeks now. They all know each other as well, that’s the other thing.
“Ryan Longman who signed for us from Hull, he played with Andy Cannon at Hull a few years ago, and they’re friends and still in touch.
“And he’d [Longman] been like ‘oh I’d been messaging Andy and then out of the blue, my agent’s like Wrexham are interested. So I messaged Andy and Andy was like drop everything, take a pay cut, do whatever, come here, you’ll have such a good time’.”
Wrexham transfer plan will be impacted by dressing room mood
Being able to sign 15 players across the last 12 months has obviously helped the club achieve their goals.
But Parkinson’s stance on Wrexham signings has proven to be really crucial in the last few years.
Speaking about transfers late in April, the manager shared exactly what he does not want from potential new arrivals.
He said: “No superstars, no egos in the dressing room and we’ve got to try and get that balance right again where you always need extra quality when you go up a level, but make sure that they are the right people coming into the building.”
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