WREXHAM, Wales (AP) 鈥� Having an Emmy-winning documentary series does not always help on the field for the fast-rising soccer club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
It is a big reason why Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen did not join in the offseason, Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson revealed Wednesday.
The former Tottenham, Ajax and Inter Milan star was a free agent in July after leaving Manchester United and did not want to be filmed for a behind-the-scenes show like 鈥淲elcome to Wrexham.鈥�
Eriksen and his heart stopped beating while playing for Denmark during a European Championship game in 2021 in Copenhagen.
His return to health and top-level action 鈥� first with Brentford, then Denmark and United 鈥� has been a globally popular soccer story and brought an offer from Wrexham to join its first season in the English league second tier since 1982.
鈥淚 reached out to the agent,鈥� Williamson , 鈥渁nd what was really interesting in the first call is the reaction was, 鈥榃e don鈥檛 want his story to be in a documentary, because we鈥檝e had plenty of opportunities for a documentary for his story.鈥欌��
鈥淗e thought we were calling not because of his footballing capabilities but because we wanted a documentary story,鈥� the CEO said. 鈥淚鈥檓 like: 鈥榃ait a minute. I didn鈥檛 even think about that鈥�. Obviously, I鈥檓 aware of it, but that wasn鈥檛 the reason we were calling.鈥�
The 33-year-old Eriksen, who plays with an implanted device to monitor his heart rhythm, ended up in September after the transfer window closed.
Wrexham鈥檚 own transfer business ultimately improved, Williamson suggested, because the confidential interest in Eriksen was revealed by his agent.
鈥淲hat it did was it sent a signal around the players鈥� market, if you will,鈥� Williamson said. 鈥淭hat we were serious about being competitive.鈥�
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