Wrexham’s Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney aren’t playing games anymore. As the Red Dragons set their sights on a historic charge towards the Premier League, reports of a brutal £8m transfer plot are threatening to tear through Phil Parkinson’s dressing room.
Rumours are rife that the club is ready to launch a blockbuster bid for Sunderland shot stopper Anthony Patterson. The 26 year old academy graduate is understood to be up for grabs this summer, with Black Cats boss Régis Le Bris ready to cash in.
Patterson who impressed on loan at Millwall last season, keeping seven clean sheets in 14 games and starring in the play offs, is at the centre of a massive transfer tug of war. Wrexham are ready to battle Championship rivals Wolves and Millwall for his signature.
But while a multi million pound shiny new signing sounds exciting, it could set up an unsettling game of musical chairs at the Racecourse Ground, with at least one major casualty guaranteed.
The goalkeeping numbers don’t lie
To the naked eye, a massive spending spree on a keeper might look like overkill. But the blunt reality of Wrexham’s recent Championship campaign tells a different story.
Parkinson’s side shipped a staggering 65 goals last term, with 37 of those leaked at home. Only relegated Sheffield Wednesday had a worse home record.
While misplaced midfield passes and defensive teething problems played a part, the “Expected Goals on Target Conceded” metric shows that Wrexham’s main duo in goal did okay but no more.
Wales international Danny Ward essentially performed exactly as expected, letting in 12 goals against an xGOT of 12.82. But former Arsenal man Arthur Okonkwo actually underperformed, getting beaten 53 times when the data suggests he should have only conceded about 50.
Compare that to the division’s heavy hitters, and the gap becomes glaring. Promotion winning keepers like Coventry’s Carl Rushworth and Ipswich’s Christian Walton massively over performed their metrics, actively saving their teams from goals that should have gone in.
If Wrexham want automatic promotion to the promised land, they need a match winner between the sticks not someone who is just par for the course.
The dressing room time bomb
At the same time, bringing in Patterson for an eye watering £8m risks detonating the dressing room harmony Parkinson has worked so hard to build.
The current crop of senior keepers also including former Plymouth stopper Callum Burton are all entering the final year of their contracts. Adding a high profile, expensive new number one essentially tells everyone else they are surplus to requirements.
Current number one Okonkwo won’t take this lying down. The 24 year old is an unshakeable force with two international caps for Nigeria. Despite being let go by Arsenal, many fans believe he has top flight DNA. He racked up 39 appearances and 10 clean sheets last year, producing late heroics to seal crucial wins at Charlton and Millwall.
The fanbase is already split
A rift is already brewing among the Wrexham faithful. A vocal section of the fanbase is frustrated that Okonkwo was dropped for Ward by Parkinson during the crucial final games of the season as the club agonisingly missed out on the play offs to Hull City.
For many, paying an astronomical fee for Patterson when Okonkwo has already played more first team club games than Ward, known for sitting on the bench in the latter part of his career is complete madness. Especially when that cash could fix other glaring issues in the squad.
The other side of the argument
Yet the other side of the argument is simple: ruthless ambition. To catch up with the likes of Coventry and Ipswich, Wrexham need flawless decision making and elite shot stopping.
Patterson has proven he can deliver in the high stakes environment of the Championship. If Reynolds and McElhenney pull the trigger on this £8m mega deal, it will send a message to the rest of the league.
But inside the Racecourse dressing room, the battle for the number one shirt could get incredibly ugly.
The bottom line
Okonkwo won’t go quietly. Ward is fighting for his career. Patterson would arrive as the anointed one.
Three keepers. One shirt. Eight million reasons for tension.
Wrexham need a promotion winning goalkeeper. But at what cost to the dressing room?
The Hollywood owners are learning that Championship football is not a movie. The ending is never guaranteed. And civil wars don’t sell tickets.
