“In the same way that Ronaldo has moved to Saudi” - Financial expert makes big claim on Wrexham’s transfers after promotion
League Two side Wrexham, who will soon move to League One after promotion, have been backed to take a page out of Saudi Pro League's books and copy Cristiano Ronaldo-style transfers by football finance expert Dr Rob Wilson. He has claimed that they could target Premier League stars, who are nearing retirement, to bolster the squad.
Speaking to BonusCodeBets, Wilson, the Professor of Economics at Sheffield Business School, said that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney-owned Wrexham have the resources to bring big names to the lower leagues. He believes that the Profit and Sustainability Rule will be an issue but it is a market they could exploit. He said (via SportBible):
"Wrexham could target Premier League players when they're in League One, especially players that are nearing retirement, but it will come down to Profit and Sustainability Rules.
"In the same way that Ronaldo has moved to Saudi and the Saudi Pro League to try and boost the brand there, top-level Championship, lower-level Premier League players that are perhaps searching for that last contract that could benefit their profile, like Ben Foster. There's absolutely an opportunity for those sorts of players to go in there whether they can deliver because it's really competitive in those divisions."
Wrexham have gained back-to-back promotions and will move to League One from next season. They need to win their remaining two league games and hope Stockport lose all their three matches to win the League Two title.
Wrexham are copying Lionel Messi's Inter Miami more than Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi Pro League model, claims financial expert
Dr Rob Wilson went on to claim that Wrexham's current style is very similar to Inter Miami. He stated that similar to Miami, the Welsh side were looking to bring in popular names and keep them as the focal point. He told BonusCodeBets:
"Wrexham have a very similar story to Inter Miami. It's different in terms of league and style of player but the story ostensibly is the same because they're creating a narrative. At Inter Miami Beckham created the narrative as a shareholder and has brought in loads of household names led by Lionel Messi which started with Gonzalo Higuain.
"They have gone on to create a narrative that is gonna be really compelling, you would say the same about Wrexham. It's a town on the up as a consequence of the football team, those narratives create interest which creates column inches, which creates finance, which creates sport and performance."