Football League World
·24 September 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsFootball League World
·24 September 2024
Mo Faal has struggled for minutes since joining the Red Dragons in the summer.
Wrexham AFC have returned to the third tier with a bang, but one of their summer signings has taken a little bit longer to fit in.
Mo Faal was signed from West Bromwich Albion on deadline day, and is yet to make his debut in the league for the Red Dragons.
He has featured for Phil Parkinson's side in the EFL Trophy, playing 78 minutes of his team's 2-1 triumph over Salford City. It was reported that Wrexham paid £500,000 for the 21-year-old, however, this has been proven wrong by one of his new teammates.
The Welsh club are enjoying life back in League One after 19 years away, and are currently top of the table following their 2-1 win at home to Crawley Town on Saturday, a fantastic reaction after suffering their first defeat of the season to Birmingham City the week prior.
But, the STōK Cae Ras faithful will be hoping in the coming weeks that Faal can integrate into the first-team a bit more easily and start to prove his worth.
Wrexham have been big spenders in every division that they have found themselves in since they were taken over by Hollywood superstars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and this summer proved no different.
Faal was brought in on deadline day to provide further cover to an aging forward line, and while he has not had the desired impact so far, he is one for the future.
It is the future that Reynolds and McElhenney have invested in, as club captain James McClean revealed on The Fozcast Live that Wrexham spent £590,000 on the 21-year-old.
This revelation is quite a surprising one given the secrecy that usually surrounds transfer fees in modern day football, but it does give League One supporters an idea of the money that the current table toppers have at their disposal.
Although Faal has perhaps not had the opportunities at Wrexham that he might have wanted in his first few weeks, he can not dwell on it and must start performing.
Jack Marriott, Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer are all above him in the pecking order currently, and with Marriott firing on all cylinders currently, his chance to get into the starting XI has been limited even further.
Mullin has been a superhero at points for the Red Dragons, and his form for the team that he joined in 2021 has been beyond impressive. The 28-year-old has scored 101 goals in just 139 matches in his three years in Wales, and will only increase that further after coming back from back surgery.
Palmer, while he does not quite provide the goals that the other two can, will bring link-up play to the team and act as the physical force up front.
Faal has to find his way into the side by proving to Parkinson that he can bring something different, otherwise it could be a tough few months for the striker, especially with the pressure of having his transfer fee revealed.