Why £70m Premier League transfer deals don't scare Wrexham - with director explaining recruitment model in Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney's ambitious project

Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have helped to fund a meteoric rise for the Welsh outfit. Their personal fortunes allowed rivals to be outspent in the National League and League Two.

Three successive promotions have lifted Wrexham into the Championship, with multi-millionaire chairmen no longer enough to compete at that level. Further investment is being sought, while record-breaking commercial deals are helping to bolster the coffers.

The ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series has opened up a window to the world, making the Red Dragons an appealing project for those with the deepest of pockets, and the plan is to reach the top-flight of English football in the not too distant future.

Teams at that level continue to splash eye-watering quantities of cash - with the history books being rewritten again in 2025 - but Wrexham director Harvey told Ben Foster’s ‘Fozcast’ when asked about deals of £70 million plus and how the Red Dragons feel about being one step away from that level: "I think we are there now. I don’t think we have to wait for the Premier League.

"Our model has always been, we always wanted to sign players that used to play at least one division higher than what we were playing in. If we are going to do that now, we are signing players that are Premier League quality. They want Premier League wages.

"We have probably subdivided the Championship into top end and bottom end. If you are looking to sign players from the top end of the Championship to come and help you on your journey, they are earning fortunes.

"Our wage bill now, a month, will be more than we paid for the whole time that we were in the National League. Income has gone up as well, so it’s not just a one-way street."

Wrexham have continued to spend big themselves in the current window, with Liberato Cacace becoming a record purchase when joining Phil Parkinson’s squad from Empoli. It did not take long for that bar to be raised even further when prising Lewis O’Brien away from Nottingham Forest.