Man Utd legend Jonny Evans and England striker among stars Wrexham could target after promotion to Championship

MANCHESTER UNITED star Jonny Evans is among Wrexham’s major targets as part of their Premier League push, according to reports.

The Welsh club celebrated promotion to the Championship over the weekend after Leyton Orient beat Wycombe Wanderers.

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It marked a record-breaking third successive promotion to make it to England’s second tier, just two years after the club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney was playing in the National League.

However, the Hollywood duo have made no secret of their ambition to reach the Premier League, and have suitably bankrolled a number of lucrative deals to bring the club up the leagues so quickly.

The Championship will represent arguably Wrexham’s toughest challenge yet, but a number of top flight players could become available to help them achieve their next goal.

Manager Phil Parkinson said the club was “always planning” but admitted that while they have not spoken about anyone in particular they do have a profile of targets who are free agents.

He said: “We haven’t really spoken about anything. We’ve always got our eye on players who are free transfers and are going to be available.

“I think it’s interesting because the jump in salaries is incredible, mind-blowing. Even coming up to this level, the jump to get players of Championship quality is expensive.

“But obviously 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 in the press about Premier League players is huge.

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“That is a challenge but what we’ve always tried to do is make sure the culture in the club is right.

“No superstars, no egos in the dressing room, and we’ve got to try to get that balance right again, to make sure the right people come into the building.”

Premier League internationals over the age of 30 who are out of contract this summer could be ideal candidates to bolster the squad with a combination of quality, experience and attainability.

The likes of Man Utd’s Jonny Evans, Newcastle‘s Callum Wilson, Everton’s Michael Keane, Leicester’s Jamie Vardy or even Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne all fit this category.

While some of these names may seem far fetched, Wrexham accounts show a remarkable robustness, making the possibility of making one of these signings more realistic.

Club accounts going up to June 2024 covering their season in League Two show revenues of £26.7million – which is a figure greater than seven Championship clubs including ex-Prem champions Blackburn -with the average revenue for a club not receiving parachute payments said to land at around the £22m mark.

Sponsorship for that season had risen to £13.1m from £1.8m thanks to deals with United Airlines and Stok coffee.

That figure is likely to rise when the next set of accounts emerge and detail their League One books, while there will almost certainly be a new season of Disney+ documentary “Welcome to Wrexham”.

The latest series of the show will Premiere on May 16, with industry experts calculating every episode to be worth £300,000 to Reynolds and McElhenney’s production company.

Wrexham also have the third-highest payroll in League One at an estimated total salary of £10.7m this season, all while operating at a reported loss of £2.7m and a £15m loan repayment to Reynolds and McElhenney.

The Times report that sum comes from new minority owners, the billionaire Allyn family, who have a background in medical devices and are described as the driving force behind the club’s Premier League push.

Speaking about the challenge of the next level, six-time promotion winner Parkinson said: “I think everybody knows the jump is huge.

“I remember when I took Bolton up [in 2016-17], it was, ‘Phew! 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, but let’s see if we can build a squad to compete at that level.”

Only two other clubs in English football history – Truro City (South Western League to Southern League between 2005 and 2009) and Shaw Lane (Sheffield and Hallam County Senior League to Northern Counties East Premier from 2011 to 2015) – have achieved four promotions in a row across the English pyramid.

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