Wrexham have adapted to life in League One comfortably at the start of the current campaign, with the Red Dragons seemingly making the step up in division with ease.
The Welsh side have already notched eight goals in their first four matches of the campaign, with Wycombe Wanderers, Reading, and Peterborough United all swept aside, as well as a stalemate with Bolton Wanderers.
While Phil Parkinson’s side have been well-known for their ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis of late, their newfound resilience at the back has seen them seeing out games with a lot more ease than had previously been the case.
Much of that will have come with the maturing of young star Max Cleworth, who Football League World’s Wrexham fan pundit Liam Grice has tipped for a bright future in the game.
Max Cleworth continues to impress as Wrexham rise the divisions
After turning 22 last month, Cleworth is nearing a century of appearances in a Wrexham shirt, having been part of the meteoric rise of the club since their days in the National League.
Back-to-back promotions have seen the Hollywood-owned club sitting pretty in League One as it stands, with the centre-back taking the step-up in class in his stride along the way.
The defender has been a prominent figure as the Red Dragons continue to showcase a sterner side despite their recent promotion, while also adding goals to his game at the same time.
The young talent has already found the back of the net twice in the opening four league matches of the season, as he scored the club’s first goal on their return to the third tier on the opening day, before netting the second in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Peterborough.
As he continues to mature in front of the eyes of the spectators at The Racecourse Ground, Grice believes they could have a player on their hands who has a promising career ahead of him.
The Wrexham fan said: “For me, the most valuable player for the club at the moment is Max Cleworth, a young centre-back we have.
| Max Cleworth 23/24 Wrexham League One stats (Sofascore, as of 4/9/24) | |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 4 |
| Starts | 4 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Clean sheets | 3 |
| Ball recoveries/90 | 2.3 |
| Interceptions/90 | 3.0 |
“I can easily see him being a top-end Championship centre-back in the next couple of years.
“He’s got loads of potential, he’s been playing regularly for us since we were in the National League and all the way through to League One.
“He’s really started well in League One, and I could say we could easily get £4-5 million if we were looking to sell him, but quite fortunately I don’t think we need to sell players with the way the club is being run.”
Paul Mullin return can add further firepower for Wrexham
Wrexham aren’t a side lacking in options up top as it stands, with the likes of Ollie Palmer, Jack Marriott, Steven Fletcher and Elliott Lee all capable of finding the net on a regular basis.
But if they ever did want another boost, the return of goalscoring machine Paul Mullin will no doubt add to their prowess in front of goal, after the striker underwent surgery in the summer for chronic back pain.
With 88 goals in 124 league appearances for the club, the former Cambridge United man has been pivotal to the side’s rise up the divisions in recent seasons, and will be champing at the bit to get a decent crack at League One in the year ahead.
After a number of substitute appearances to get himself back up to match fitness, Parkinson will have his chief goal-getter back at his disposal soon enough, with Grice predictably regarding him as one of the top assets in the side at this moment in time.
He continued: “The obvious answer there is probably Paul Mullin; he’s the talisman of the team, the one that scores all the goals.
“Obviously, he has been injured at the start of the season and he is starting to come back now, so you would expect him to be a figurehead.”
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