Big-spending Wrexham given points deduction warning as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are told their Premier League dream could 'unravel' in the Championship

The Red Dragons remain some way off hitting their ultimate top-flight target for now, but are hoping to make history in 2024-25 by securing a third successive promotion. A meteoric rise up the EFL ladder has been enjoyed under the stewardship of Hollywood co-owners.

Reynolds and McElhenney have made the funds available, with commercial deals such as the one which made the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series possible, helping the Welsh outfit to remain fiercely competitive which making regular additions to their squad in each passing transfer window.

Football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley has, however, told Instant Casino of how tricky Wrexham may find it to clear the final hurdle before reaching the big time: “Wrexham have never had any form of financial regulation to worry about when climbing through the leagues, there’s nothing that they need to mandate against currently. However, if they were to get promoted to the Championship, that becomes a different story.

“I’d expect them to invest if they were to gain promotion but even if a club has unlimited financial wealth, you can’t just throw the blank chequebook at getting promoted to the Premier League. You’ve got clubs that have huge squads and wage bills, those clubs that have come down from the Premier League that have parachute payments, it’s a tall order to go straight up from the Championship.

“There is that risk and reward factor and it can backfire the other way, it’s a gamble. If you really go for it and push against the financial regulations in the Championship, you can land that gamble but if you don’t it can unravel the other way. We’ve seen clubs in the division get points deductions and suddenly you’re back to where you started, in a financial predicament.

“There will be a financial consideration for the club, obviously they have great aspirations but there has to be a long-term target for the club to be promoted rather than bouncing straight up.”

Wrexham sit third in the League One table as things stand, four points adrift of second-placed Wycombe with 17 games left to take in. Phil Parkinson’s side will not be back in third-tier action until February 15, but do have a Football League Trophy quarter-final clash with Bolton to come prior to that.