Southampton Vs Wrexham Preview, EFL Championship: Red Dragons Looking Into ‘Number Of Deals’ In Transfer Market

Ahead of their first second-tier game in over 43 years, Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson insisted that his team are far from done in the transfer market. 

Wrexham kickstart their 2025-26 Championship campaign away to Southampton on Saturday, hoping to continue their fairytale rise up the ranks. 

Parkinson has led the Welsh side from the National League to within one division of the Premier League, achieving three consecutive promotions in the process. 

They have already strengthened significantly ahead of their trip to St. Mary's, with the notable additions of Danny Ward, Conor Coady, Kieffer Moore and Josh Windass. 

Liberato Cacace also arrived from Empoli for a club-record fee reported to be £4m, which Wrexham soon surpassed with a £5m swoop for Nottingham Forest's Lewis O'Brien.

But Wrexham continue to be linked with more names before the summer window closes, including a potential move for Ipswich Town's Nathan Broadhead. 

"I honestly don't know anything today, whether there's been any developments," Parkinson said about Wrexham's pursuit of Broadhead. 

"He's Ipswich Town's player. Until I'm told differently, that's the way it'll stay. There's a number of deals we're looking into at the moment."

According to Opta's Power Rankings model, Wrexham have the ninth-toughest start to the season among the 24 Championship clubs. 

They are assigned a mere 2.8% chance of automatic promotion, with only Oxford United (1.0%) viewed as less likely champions than them (1.2%). 

In the Opta supercomputer's 10,000 season simulations, Wrexham finished in the top six in just 9.6% of scenarios, being relegated back to League One in 20.2%.

But Parkinson says he has not been set targets by owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, insisting regular improvement will constitute success for Wrexham this season.

"I think it's difficult to predict, but I said that last season in League One," explained Parkinson on the targets for the year ahead.

"Success for Wrexham is that, by the end of the season, we've continued to represent this great football club in the way we have over the last four years.

"If we do that I'll be very pleased and we'll see where that takes us. One thing with Rob and Ryan, they've never put pressure on us.

"It's about getting the squad and the template we set out in the summer.

"Can we fill the blanks where we needed players to come in to give us a chance to be competitive in the division?

"They're the conversations I have with Rob and Ryan rather than, 'we've got to do this or that'. They've just been supportive to help us build a competitive squad."