Phil Parkinson hails Wrexham’s ‘statement of intent’ with Callum Doyle signing | OneFootball

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson believes the eye-catching acquisition of Manchester City defender Callum Doyle is a “statement of intent” from the ambitious Sky Bet Championship new boys.

The Red Dragons have been busy this summer as Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s men rebuild for their first season back in English football’s second tier since the 1981-82 campaign.

Doyle, who joins in a deal the PA news agency understands to be worth £7.5million, is Wrexham’s 10th permanent signing since promotion and follows last week’s club-record £10m purchase of Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich.

The 21-year-old has signed a contract until 2029, with City holding a buy-back option and inserting a 25 per cent sell-on clause.

“Callum’s a player we’ve obviously been looking at over the summer,” Wrexham boss Parkinson said.

“Always difficult deals to get because there’s a player in demand. We’ve had to compete with some really good clubs to bring him here.

“He’s only 21, he’s got a lot of Championship experience, an England Under-21 international. I think he’s a player of huge potential.

“This hasn’t broken the transfer record. It’s in line with other transfers we’ve made already this summer.

“But I think it is a statement of intent that we’ve won the signature over some established Championship clubs, who’ve been in the division and Premiership before recently, and obviously clubs in other European leagues.”

Doyle came through the youth system at City, who have farmed the defender out on loans to Sunderland, Coventry, Leicester and most recently Norwich.

The England Under-21 international already widespread Championship experience is in contention for Saturday’s clash with Sheffield Wednesday.

“Obviously it’s difficult to break through into Man City’s team,” Parkinson said. “I think Callum was at the stage in his career where he’s ready to find a home, he’d had a lot of loan moves, and be part of something.

“I’ve had a good chat with him over the last few days, and we were looking forward to getting him in with the boys.

“He’s trained this morning with us and have another session and assess where he is fitness-wise because obviously he hasn’t had loads of minutes, but he’s here for the long term.”

Wrexham may not stop there, though, and Parkinson says they are “going to take stock” over a weekend they hope can mark the end their 43-year wait to win a match in the second tier.

The Welsh side host the embattled Owls on Saturday afternoon having suffered a late 2-1 defeat in their opener at Southampton before falling to a 3-2 home loss to West Brom.

Wednesday are having to balance off-field issues and Parkinson, who was manager of Bolton during some dark times, hopes they soon return to a sounder footing.

“You feel for the supporters of any club because football clubs are such a part of the community,” the Wrexham boss said.

“We know Sheffield (Wednesday), what pride they’ve got in that city, and the competition they have with United, et cetera.

“Everybody in football, we’re all football people, understands that along the way that there are going to be clubs nearly every year who are in difficult situations, and it’s important for the football community and world to support those clubs.”