Wrexham agree £8m deal to sign new No. 1 goalkeeper from Premier League club

Aug 10, 2026 - 12:00

Wrexham have agreed an £8million deal with Sunderland for goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, talkSPORT understands.

The 26-year-old was ousted as the Black Cats’ starting gloveman last term following the arrival of Robin Roefs.

Anthony Patterson playing for Millwall while on loan from Sunderland — Patterson has three-and-a-half seasons of Championship experience under his belt

Patterson was subsequently sent out on loan to Millwall for the second half of the 2025/26 Championship campaign, where he made 14 appearances across all competitions.

And he’s now set to call the second tier home once more, albeit with Wrexham.

Patterson will now have to battle Danny Ward and Arthur Okonkwo for the starting role between the sticks at the Racecourse Ground.

Which other players have joined Wrexham this summer?

He represents the Welsh side’s third piece of business this summer following the arrivals of Danny Imray and Ben Whiteman.

Imray moved to Wrexham from Crystal Palace in a deal worth approximately £5m while Whiteman arrived from Preston North End for £3m, although he was accused of ‘crossing the line’ by Paul Heckingbottom to make the deal happen.

Wrexham go into the 2026/27 campaign hoping to improve on their seventh-place finish from last term, where they finished just two points outside of the play-offs.

However, under new EFL rules, teams that finish seventh and eighth in the Championship this term will qualify for the play-offs.

The expanded format was first announced in March, with the third and fourth-placed teams advancing straight to the semi-finals while teams that finish between fifth and eighth will compete in one-off eliminator matches.

Phil Parkinson’s side have already commenced the 2026/27 season, slipping to a 1-0 loss away to Middlesbrough in their Carabao Cup first round tie last Friday.

Will Lankshear’s 61st-minute strike was all that separated the two sides at the Riverside.

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson — Wrexham are building for yet another promotion push

Phil Parkinson’s reaction to Wrexham’s Carabao Cup loss to Middlesbrough

Despite the defeat, Parkinson viewed the contest as a valuable opportunity to get some much-needed competitive minutes into his players.

“The lads will come on enormously for tonight’s game physically,” Parkinson said following the match.

“It was always going to be a test for us, and we’ve had to manage some of the players’ minutes – that was pre-decided – but we’ll get them back and have a good week now.

“We got the two new lads (Imray and Whiteman) some minutes, which is important.”

Wrexham will face League One side Wigan Athletic in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Monday before their Championship campaign gets underway on August 17 against fellow Welsh side Cardiff City.