Wrexham have been advised they may regret loaning Paul Mullin to Wigan Athletic after the striker was backed to rediscover his form by a former Wales international
Wrexham have been warned they could regret their decision to let Paul Mullin leave on loan.
The 30-year-old, who has scored 110 goals in 172 appearances for the Red Dragons, joined League One side Wigan Athletic on a season-long deal earlier this week. The striker has been a talisman for Wrexham since joining the club in July 2021, helping to fire them to three successive promotions from the National League to the Championship.
However, he found himself frozen out of the squad by manager Phil Parkinson during the second half of last season in League One, despite enjoying a close relationship with club owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Mullin struggled for form early in the campaign, managing just three goals after undergoing back surgery last summer.
Parkinson brought in strikers Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez to bolster his forward line in January, securing promotion to the second tier in April. The former Bolton and Sunderland boss described Mullin’s move to the Latics as a “good opportunity” for him to get regular first-team minutes after it was confirmed on Monday.
But ex-Wrexham manager Dean Saunders has said he would have kept the Liverpudlian at the Racecourse Ground after backing him to rediscover his form. When asked about the potential deal shortly before it was announced, the former Wales and Liverpool striker told talkSPORT: “I wouldn’t let him go and I wouldn’t go if I was him.
“Wrexham are going places and you never lose your eye for a goal. As strikers, you lose the eye of the tiger for a bit, but it comes back.
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“Paul Mullin lost the eye of the tiger and got a few injuries, but he’ll never lose his eye for a goal and he will score goals in the Championship.”
Mullin has become a household name after featuring in the Welcome to Wrexham documentary and even made a cameo in last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine movie after being invited by Reynolds. While he still has two years left on his contract in North Wales, it remains to be seen if he will ever play for the club again.
After joining Wigan, he confessed to feeling disappointed at how his time ended and finding the attention associated with being a Wrexham player tough to handle at times.
“It was sad to leave there with how it ended,” Mullin told Wigan’s club media team. “That happens in football and you leave clubs, but just the way it’s gone has been quite disappointing.
“But one door closes and another one opens. I’m ready for a new chapter and I’m so buzzing to be here and go out and play every week for Wigan. It’s been quite hard and strange to be honest, at times.
“When we were playing in the National League, because of who the owners are and because of the attention we had at the club after the documentary, I ended up probably getting a lot more attention than many players who play in the Premier League and are a lot better at football than me.
“That was quite strange to accept, but I’m one of those people where I just get on with it. I just try be myself and roll with it and found it quite funny. It’s an absolute privilege that anybody would ever stop me in the street to speak to me and take a photo.”