Football Manager 24: Taking Wrexham from League Two to the Premier League – part four

Football Manager 24 is out and The Athletic’s Richard Sutcliffe is attempting to take Wrexham all the way to the Premier League.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

“Gaffer, Ryan Reynolds wants a word. Can you phone him?”

That was quick. I only put my request into the board 48 hours ago and seemingly I’m about to get my answer. I check it’s not too early on the other side of the Atlantic and call.

“Thanks for getting back to me. It’s about this transfer you say would make a huge difference to our promotion prospects in the coming season.”

The accent is unmistakable. There’s a hint of the co-chairman’s Canadian roots in there but, really, this is Deadpool.

“I’ve had a word with Rob and we’re happy to back you with the funds to try and sign Anthony Musaba. He was so good for us last season. Leave the negotiations with us — well, Shaun, if we’re being honest — and, hopefully, we’ll have good news soon.”

Ryan Reynolds, arch negotiator (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

I can’t resist doing a little celebratory jig in my office. Judging by the look on assistant manager Steve Parkin’s face as he walks in, I might need to work on my dance moves.

Parky, though, is soon all smiles as well after I explain the board have agreed to push the boat out in our attempts to sign Musaba, the Sheffield Wednesday winger who played such a big part in our League Two title success when on loan last season.

In 36 appearances, he scored 20 goals and provided 11 assists. He also claimed nine man-of-the-match awards, the highest tally at the club.

Musaba’s signing would be a real statement of intent going into a new division but Wednesday have spent the past six weeks rebuffing my offers, even those promising 30 per cent of the money from a future sale and a significant bonus payment if we win a second EFL promotion in as many years.

I’ve already sold Ryan Barnett to Portsmouth for a £350,000 ($440,000) fee that went straight into my recruitment pot. James McClean’s retirement, together with the release of Sam Dalby, Luke Young, Bryce Hosannah and Liam McAlinden, has also freed up £12,500 per week in wages.

But, no matter how I tweaked the wage/transfer budgets, I still couldn’t get close to tempting Wednesday. Hence, the request to a board who have already injected an extra £3.5million this summer to help with running costs at a club whose income levels are nothing like the real-life equivalent (where turnover this season is expected to hit £20million).

I leave the board’s special advisor Shaun Harvey to break the deadlock over Musaba to focus on pre-season. We’ve already been busy on the recruitment front, particularly in the free-agent market.

Arthur Okonkwo, another who excelled on loan last season, has joined from Arsenal along with wingers Ateef Konate (from Nottingham Forest) and Ian Poveda (Leeds United), and they are all 24 or younger.

Sean McGurk has also joined on a season-long loan deal from Elland Road that will see us pay his wages in full. When news comes through on the eve of the season that a deal has finally been struck for Musaba at £2.5million, I’m already dreaming of the carnage our attack will cause in League One.

It’s Parky who snaps me out of my reverie a few hours later. “Bad news, gaffer. His work permit has been turned down!”

An appeal is made straight away. But it does no good. The Home Office won’t relent. The deal is off. I break the news to the owners. They seem as gutted as me. However, when I broach whether the £2.5million is still available for other signings, the silence is deafening. I decide not to push my luck and leave the call.

Our start to the season helps banish any disappointment over missing out on my number one target. We take 10 points from the first four games. The defence looks good after being bolstered by the capture of Blackpool centre-half Matthew Pennington for £170,000 and Adam Montgomery, Celtic’s 22-year-old left-back, in a £20,000 deal.

Dylan Williams’ season-long loan from Chelsea ensures we are now well covered at left-back following McClean’s retirement and Jacob Mendy’s departure on a free to Hartlepool United.

With the window shutting in a few days, that leaves just the search for a striker to replace Ollie Palmer as competition for Paul Mullin. The latter’s first call-up for Wales, meaning he misses the September 7 clash with Oxford United, merely reinforces this need to bring in a new face.

I enquire first after Portsmouth’s Paddy Lane, perhaps unwisely considering we play them on Saturday. A firm “no” comes back. Lane then takes 52 seconds to open the scoring at Fratton Park as we twice have to come from behind to round off August with a 2-2 draw.

Millwall offer more encouragement when asked about Duncan Watmore, who already has three goals in four League One starts this season. We can have him for £425,000, pretty much all that is left in the transfer budget.

He’s keen to join, too, so we do the deal quickly on deadline day. Palmer is immediately loaned to Colchester United. Our new striker’s first goals come in a 4-1 win over Lincoln City at the end of September, extending our unbeaten start to nine games.

Then comes Reading away and a 4-1 defeat. We’re still well placed in the play-offs but it brings everyone, including me, back to earth.

We respond well, via convincing wins over Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United, but I’m adamant the real acid test will come when Stockport County visit on October 30. We sit fourth in the table, one point and one place behind a side who came up with us last season.

There’s a real edge to our rivalry, as a result.

With the new Kop stand open, a bumper crowd of 15,096 watch Malachi Boateng give Stockport a dream start with a deflected goal after seven minutes. Paddy Madden’s two-footed lunge on Todd Kane just three minutes later then brings a deserved red card but the visitors still lead at the break.

Stockport are still ahead after an hour so I make some changes. McGurk comes off the bench in place of Elliot Lee. I also take off Kevin Stewart, switching Jordan Davies from the left wing to defensive midfield as Watmore comes on in Stewart’s place. Max Cleworth replaces an exhausted Kane.

Finally, we come to life. Watmore threads a pass for Mullin to score only for the offside flag to go up. Mullin finds the net again six minutes from the end, this time from a McGurk pass, but again the officials rule it out.

I’m beginning to lose hope only for Davies to step up and curl an 89th-minute free kick over the Stockport wall and beyond ‘keeper Liam Roberts. Cue bedlam all around the now four-sided stadium as I try to make myself heard over the din by shouting instructions to captain Mullin.

“Keep pushing. There’s another goal in this and it’s got our name on it!”

Stockport clearly believe the same. From the restart, they race up our end and only a brave block from Okonkwo keeps the scores level. A huge save, not least because of what follows in the third minute of stoppage time.

As Mullin threads a ball through to McGurk in the penalty area, three defenders immediately converge on the ball but he still gets a first-time shot away. Roberts dives to his right but he’s too late.

A dramatic three points are ours. And they’re deserved — our expected goals (xG) stood at 2.91 compared to Stockport’s 1.14.

The win nudges us up a place to third, one point behind Reading and five adrift of leaders Oxford. Not a bad place to be, as the clocks go back to signal the end of British Summer Time.

As for Musaba in the division above, he’s started just one league game despite Wednesday sitting well off the pace in the Championship promotion race. Maybe things do happen for a reason.

(Top photo: Richard Sutcliffe)