WREXHAM, WALES - APRIL 26: James McClean of Wrexham lifts the trophy alongside teammates as they celebrate their side's promotion to the Sky Bet Championship after the Sky Bet League One match between Wrexham AFC and Charlton Athletic FC at Racecourse Ground on April 26, 2025 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Kya Banasko/Getty Images)
Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer backed for Wrexham exits, four other players’ Championship credentials questioned
The 2024/25 season isn’t over, but the futures of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer are being called into question once more.
Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer will go down in history as two of Wrexham’s greatest ever players.
The duo arrived in Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s first full season in charge – Mullin in the summer and Palmer in the winter window.
Together, they formed a formidable partnership that fired the Red Dragons out of the National League and up to League One.
However, both strikers fell heavily out of favour after the arrivals of Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez on January 31 this year.
The final days of the 2025 January window saw both Mullin and Palmer receive transfer interest, but they remained at the Racecourse Ground.
Former Wrexham player backs Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer to leave
Promotion to the Championship was secured on Saturday, with Mullin speaking out after watching on from the stands.
Attention is now beginning to turn toward the summer, where Wrexham could have £40m to play with to improve their squad and prepare for life in the second tier.
New signings, as has been the case every year at Wrexham since the takeover, will likely lead to several exits.
A number of players are out of contract at the Racecourse in June, and though Palmer (2026) and Mullin (2027) remain tied down, former player Wayne Phillips thinks both will leave this year.
Speaking on the latest addition of the Coridor Ansicrwydd podcast, he said: “It will cost them to get rid of a few. I can’t see Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer at the club next season.”
As well as suggesting Mullin and Palmer will depart, Phillips, who made over 200 appearances for Wrexham in two spells, questioned if four players can ‘do it in the Championship again’.
He said: “James McClean, Steven Fletcher, Jay Rodriguez and Matty James – can they do it in the Championship again? And will they offer enough to make Wrexham competitive?”
Fletcher is out of contract soon, so it remains to be seen if he will still be at the club come August.
Meanwhile, McClean has 221 Championship appearances to his name, Rodriguez 204, and James has 247.
Wrexham have been on quite the journey over the last 17 years, and the club is now preparing to celebrate after the final game of the League One campaign against Lincoln City on Saturday.
Spending 13 years in the fifth tier of English football was a nightmare for Wrexham fans, who had to endure a long period in obscurity despite the club’s rich history.
