What next for Wrexham? How Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will be planning for third-straight promotion to the Championship this summer

Just a brief peruse of some of the teams Wrexham are set to face off against this coming season reveals the magnitude of their task. Depending on how the League One play-offs and Championship relegation pictures play out, Wrexham could have to travel to the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic, Charlton Athletic, Reading, Huddersfield Town Birmingham City, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers next season - all of whom have tasted Premier League football in the relatively-recent past.

It's not just their reputations that are intimidating, either. Nathan Jones, Garry Monk and Ruben Selles all have top-flight managerial experience under their belts, while the quality of the players they will be pitting themselves against will also increase significantly.

What should give Wrexham hope, however, is that they should still be able to compete financially with some of the division's big boys. Attendance-wise, they should still be in the top three in League One, particularly with the expanded Kop hopefully opening partway through the new campaign.

It's not just their ability to put bums on seats that's notable either. Compared to the rest of League One, Wrexham are a commercial giant. Thanks to the unrivalled pulling power of their Hollywood owners, the club have managed to attract brands with a truly global footprint such as Gatorade, American Airlines and TikTok.

To contrast, Bolton and Cheltenham's shirts carried the name of UK plumbing firms this season; Portsmouth, Lincoln and Northampton were all sponsored by their local universities; Wycombe were supported by a window-fitting service.

This is reflected in the accounts too, with Wrexham generating in excess of £20 million ($25m) in revenue during the 2023-24 season, and that will surely only increase now that there's even more eyes on them in the third tier.

Wrexham will need to flex this financial muscle in the summer transfer window, too. As well as some of Parkinson's trusted lieutenants have done, they will need further reinforcements if they wish to be competitive in League One.

“How can we go? I think League One is a bigger jump than going from National League to League Two, so we’ve got a big test in this summer, we really have," the Wrexham boss said recently. "We’ve got to recruit well, we’ve got to maintain the spirit we’ve built over the last two years, but whilst always being honest – you’ve got to improve each time you go up, so that’s the challenge for us and it’s one I’m really excited about taking on.”

Finding the perfect foil for star man Paul Mullin - whose record this season suggests he'll be able to adapt to the third tier - will be a priority. Ollie Palmer, Steven Fletcher and Sam Dalby all contributed to the promotion bid, but having another bona-fide starting striker who can either facilitate Parkinson's main man or reach the 15-goal mark themselves would be a huge asset.

There will also be question marks over various players' ability to make the step up to League One. Jacob Mendy is a huge fan favourite, and has even earned international recognition during his time at the club, but this will be his biggest challenge yet. Young defender Max Cleworth, wideman Ryan Barnett and skipper Luke Young have similarly never tested themselves regularly at this level.

Meanwhile, there are also decisions to make on several out-of-contract players. Three centre-backs: Ben Tozer, Jordan Tunnicliffe and Aaron Hayden, who made over 40 combined League Two appearances this season, are all set to become free agents on June 30. It's not yet clear if the club will be offering the trio extensions, but it's difficult to see them keeping all three. This makes finding defensive reinforcements absolutely vital this summer.

Skipper Young may be off too, with the midfielder seemingly hinting his Wrexham career was coming to an end back in March. "Being here for so long, whatever happens, this club will always have a place in my heart. Whether I am here next season, or the season after or not, I’ll always look for the results," he toldThe Athletic.

Another player who might have featured in his final game for Wrexham is Arthur Okonkwo. The young goalkeeper arrived in North Wales on transfer deadline day in September following the shock retirement of Ben Foster early in the season. He initially had to be patient, but after breaking into the first team, he refused to give up the gloves.

Okonkwo has been a complete revelation, with only Crawley Town's Corey Addai preventing more xG in League Two this season. His command of the penalty area has been impressive too, with the 22-year-old looking poised to enjoy a lengthy career in football.

Okonkwo clearly enjoyed his time in Wrexham, his jubilant dancing following that decisive Forest Green victory is testament to that, and would surely be open to making his switch permanent in the summer.

However, the Red Dragons will face stiff competition, something executive director Humphrey Ker recently admitted. "I went to the EFL awards," he recalled. "I had to go and man-mark Arthur because we knew there would be lots of people from other football clubs there and as we’re desperate to retain him this summer, we’ve got to make sure he doesn’t have too much polite chit-chat with people, without me appearing over his shoulder like ‘what are you guys talking about? I’m here too!'"

Despite this, Wrexham will be pushing hard to sign Okonkwo permanently, particularly with veteran backup 'keeper Mark Howard likely to leave. But if Championship clubs get involved, they could find themselves gazumped, which would be a major, early blow to their plans.

If they do miss out, Wrexham can at least take solace that they will have an experienced hand steadying the ship. Unlike some of his squad, Parkinson has plenty of experience in the third tier, managing close to 400 League One games across spells with Bolton, Bradford City, Charlton and Colchester United. He's enjoyed plenty of success too.

Most notably, he defied the odds by guiding Colchester to a second-place finish in 2006 and repeated the trick with Bolton 11 years later. He also guided Charlton and Bradford into the play-off positions in 2010 and 2016, respectively, success he will be aiming to replicate sooner rather than later in north Wales.

The speed with which Wrexham can get out of the division remains to be seen. The bookmakers are certainly feeling optimistic, with some outlets offering a price of just 5/2 on the Red Dragons securing a third-straight promotion in 2025.

That might seem naive, but it's not as far-fetched as it may first seem. Wrexham will be more than able to hold their own in the transfer market, have an excellent manager and shall begin this fresh challenge with a head full of steam.

It's also worth remembering that the Red Dragons are now halfway done in project Premier League, a goal which seemed unreachable when Reynolds and McElhenney first started voicing their desire for the top-flight. But the Hollywood pair continue to back up their words with investment, so what's to stop them booking their place in the Championship this time next year?