Wrexham have completed the signing of Manchester City defender Callum Doyle in a move that takes their summer spending past £30m as they look to secure their position in the Championship.
The 21-year-old becomes Phil Parkinson’s 10th summer signing while City continue to trim their squad and bring in money by selling youth-team products.
Centre-back Doyle is the second biggest buy in Wrexham’s history, after Nathan Broadhead joined from Ipswich last week, in costing an initial £7.5m. Included in the deal is a buyback clause for City as well as a 25% sell-on clause should Wrexham decide to part ways with Doyle in the future.
Wrexham had already broken their club record this summer to sign first Liberato Cacace and then Lewis O’Brien while they have also bought Conor Coady, Kieffer Moore, Ryan Hardie and George Thomason, besides bringing in Josh Windass and Danny Ward on free transfers.
They’ve started the season with narrow back-to-back defeats but have shown enough promise to improve as the year goes on. On Doyle’s signing, Parkinson said: “We’re delighted to welcome Callum to the Club. He’s a talented young player with a lot of Championship experience. We’re looking forward to him joining up with the squad and working with him.”
England Under-21 international Doyle has never made a first-team appearance for City but has had four loan spells, playing for Sunderland in League One in 2021-22 and then Coventry, Leicester City and Norwich City in the Championship. He won promotions with Sunderland and Leicester and reached the play-off final with Coventry.
On signing for Wrexham, he said: “I’m buzzing to join the Club. I’ve been wanting a permanent move for some time now and I can’t wait to get started.
“I’ve been interested in the Club from afar and kept a close eye on the journey and now I’m excited to be a part of it.”
After going up in each of the last three seasons, Wrexham have lost both of their matches in the Championship, conceding five goals, as well as three in the Carabao Cup to Hull.
Doyle’s departure will follow James McAtee’s £30m move to Nottingham Forest, while City have also sold other young players, in Jacob Wright, Maximo Perrone and Farid Alpha-Ruprecht.
In addition, one of Pep Guardiola’s summer signings, Sverre Nypan, has joined Middlesbrough on a season-long loan.
The 18-year-old Norwegian midfielder joined for £12.5m, but City’s plan was always to loan him out to gain first-team experience.
