Championship transfer news: Wrexham 'agree £8m' deal to sign promotion-winning star

Wrexham have reportedly agreed to sign Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson in an £8m deal.

The homegrown talent is one of the major success stories of the Sunderland academy across the past decade, making a total of 169 appearances across all competitions.

Patterson also has two promotion campaigns on his record, including in 2024-25 when he made 45 appearances for the Black Cats as they earned a return to the Premier League through the Championship playoffs.

However, Regis Le Bris decided to sign Dutch goalkeeper Robin Roefs last summer to replace the former England Under-21 international.

With Patterson not making a Premier League appearance in 2025-26 and being loaned out to Millwall at the midway point of the campaign, it became clear that he had no future at the Stadium of Light.

Wrexham win Patterson race

According to Sky Sports News, Wrexham have won the race to sign Patterson, with the 26-year-old due to undergo a medical.

While the Welsh outfit have endured a slow summer transfer window, they have recently spent a combined £8m to sign Crystal Palace right-back Danny Imray and Preston North End midfielder Ben Whiteman.

They are now set to pay the same amount of money for Patterson, who also helped Millwall reach the Championship playoff semi-finals last season.

Although Phil Parkinson already has Danny Ward and Arthur Okonkwo as options between the sticks, they each have less than a year remaining on their contracts.

Therefore, the expectation is that one of them will be sold over the coming weeks.

Patterson signing a statement from Wrexham.

Supporters will argue that Wrexham need more signings than the ones that they have made to improve on last season's seventh-placed finish.

Further business should follow, but it is difficult to argue that attracting Patterson to the Racecourse Ground does not represent a major statement.

Patterson has a wide array of long-term admirers in British football and could have plausibly chosen to move to a lower-end Premier League club or Championship title favourite.

Instead, he has opted to join the project at Wrexham, where he will be viewed as one of the club's key players.