Wrexham AFC told not to sell Paul Mullin this summer as Phil Parkinson snub continues | OneFootball

Mullin hasn't featured for the Red Dragons since January, but it has been claimed that he deserves another chance

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Wrexham's quest to win a third promotion in succession is hanging by a thread, with Wycombe Wanderers closing the gap on them this past weekend thanks to their last-gasp win over Stevenage.

At the same time, Phil Parkinson's side were being held to a goalless draw by Wigan Athletic, and those two results cut the gap in points to just one point, with Wrexham on 82 and Mike Dodds' Chairboys on 81.

Wrexham's strikers failed to fire once more against the Latics, and once again absent from the squad was club icon Paul Mullin, who was pictured watching on among the 4,000-plus away following that travelled from North Wales.

Wrexham told not to let Paul Mullin depart this summer - he deserves another chance

After being so important for Wrexham for three seasons in the National League and League Two, the minutes and role of star striker Mullin started to diminish this season - initially due to his recovery from back surgery last summer.

After Mullin only scored three League One goals in 26 appearances by the end of January, Parkinson moved to sign both Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez from Reading and Burnley respectively, and that has since shifted Wrexham's number 10 down to fifth choice in the pecking order, with both Steven Fletcher and Jack Marriott preferred on the bench.

Despite not figuring anymore at the Racecourse Ground, Mullin is on a contract at the club for another two years, with Salarysport estimating his weekly wage to be £5,800 per week, so he is proving to be rather expensive for a player that isn't appearing or doesn't seem to be fancied by Parkinson anymore.

And asked whether or not Wrexham should now look to cash in on Mullin this summer due to his recent exodus - and especially if promotion to the Championship is achieved, where the club will likely look to bolster most positions - FLW's Red Dragons fan pundit Liam Grice thinks that it should not be the end of the road for the 30-year-old, and that he deserves a chance to be a squad player in the second tier, should they get there.

"I think I am in the majority of Wrexham fans that are not quite sure why Mullin isn't even in the squad at the moment," Liam told FLW.

"Based on the performance at Wigan, when he was in the stands he probably offered as much of a threat to Wigan's backline sat up there as our strikers did on the pitch.

"We're really not sure why he's been booted from the squad - okay he didn't have a great start to the season, but at the end of the day he's scored over 100 goals for us and knows where the back of the net is, and if he just had an opportunity, I'm sure he'd play a big part in this promotion run-in now.

"I do agree that maybe the step up to the Championship would be a bit too far for him, but I feel it would be a bit harsh to just bin him off given everything he's done for the club, and I know there's no room to be sentimental, but if there's one player you were going to be sentimental about, it is Paul Mullin, just because of how much he's done for us.

"I think he deserves a chance to prove he's here to fight for the club and given the opportunity to win us another promotion, and hopefully if we do go up, give him a chance in the Championship and see what he can do."

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson seems set on Paul Mullin stance - an exit feels inevitable

There's no denying what Mullin did for Wrexham at lower levels, but it may just be a case that he is just not up to the higher level of League One.

Looking back at the past, Mullin has only had one other year at League One level, and that is when he scored just the three times for Tranmere Rovers in 20 outings during the 2019-20 season.

It was a year later in the fourth tier of English football where he had his incredible scoring year for Cambridge before he moved on to Wrexham, so this is the first season since 2020-21 where he hasn't hit the back of the net on a regular basis.

Spinal surgery in pre-season wouldn't have helped matters in terms of him being ready for the step up, but it's now clear to see that Mullin is not in Parkinson's plans whatsoever, and that will only be exacerbated if they move up to the Championship - no matter how many fans want him to stay.