Wrexham are gearing up for battle in the Championship after being handed a tough start to the 2025-26 season.
Wrexham clinched a third straight promotion in April, and the excitement for the Championship season is really building now.
The Championship fixture list was released on Thursday, with Wrexham opening the campaign against Southampton.
A relegated Premier League club against a promoted League One club: this should be a fascinating start to the season and a great test for Phil Parkinson’s side.
Wrexham will be ready to challenge Championship sides, and Parkinson’s transfer business will be the key to success in the second tier.
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty ImagesMillwall boss on Birmingham City and Wrexham spending
Wrexham winning promotion alongside Birmingham City is a nightmare mix for a number of Championship clubs.
Clubs that tend to finish in the bottom half of the table will often hope to see promoted clubs go straight back down, almost like a buffer against relegation.
That is unlikely to be the case with Wrexham and Birmingham City, with both clubs set to splash the cash this summer.
Reports even suggested that Wrexham would challenge Ipswich Town and Leicester City for potential signings as Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds look to invest.
Millwall boss Alex Neil has now told TalkSPORT that he thinks Wrexham and Birmingham will both outspend Championship regulars this summer.
Neil is looking to keep Millwall moving forward after narrowly missing out on the play-offs last season, but accepts there are ‘big hitters’ in the Championship.
The Scot noted that Birmingham and Wrexham have ‘deep pockets’ and believes both clubs could spend ‘a lot more’ than some seasoned Championship clubs.
“I think you always want to improve, that’s the biggest thing I would say. Improvement is key for us,” said Neil.
“Depending on what happens with the transfer window between now and the end of the summer, it will be a determining factor in terms of where we see ourselves finishing. Because if you manage to get some business done and good additions that can help us, then naturally, you expect to finish further up the table.
“But we are not naive in the fact that there is a lot of big hitters in this league. It’s quite an anomaly this year in the fact that you are probably going to have Birmingham and Wrexham, unusually spending a lot more than teams who have been established in the Championship for a number of years, which is not normally the case. Then you have three coming down with parachute payments, you’ve now got two coming up that have got deep pockets and can really strengthen,” he added.
Wrexham make a frugal start to the window
Wrexham may well end the window as one of the Championship’s big spenders, but the window has not started in that fashion.
Ryan Hardie joined Wrexham for £700,000 earlier in June and is the only addition to date.
That fee doesn’t even come close to the £2million Wrexham spent on Sam Smith in January, so it’s hardly exorbitant spending to this point.
Another signing is imminent, with Wrexham closing in on Danny Ward following the goalkeeper’s exit from Leicester City.
The Welshman is a free agent, so he also wouldn’t represent a huge outlay, though his wages could be considerable after a Premier League career.
Wrexham aren’t going crazy with the spending right now, but Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds may well open the chequebook a little more as the summer goes on.