Copyright walesonline
When Wrexham 's Hollywood co-owners sanctioned a huge £33million spending spree this summer there was one signing which went right down to the wire. After achieving promotion from League One at the end of last season, manager Phil Parkinson undertook a major squad rebuild to prepare for life in the Championship . The Red Dragons' transfer business, funded by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac , continued right until deadline day as they made a triple swoop before the window closed . Wrexham completed a permanent deal to bring in Coventry City midfielder Ben Sheaf for around £6.5m, as well as signing Manchester City defender Issa Kabore on a season-long loan. Both have made a very positive impact in the second tier following their arrival, but have arguably been outshone by Parkinson's final deadline day acquisition Dom Hyam. With the window winding down, the former Sunderland and Bolton boss was keen to bolster his backline, but he saw attempts to lure Bristol City's Zak Vyner to the Racecourse Ground rejected. Attention then quickly turned to Blackburn Rovers defender Hyam, who was a key figure for the club last season after playing every minute of their Championship campaign. Rovers weren't too keen to part with the centre-back's services and set what they claimed was a "high price" in a bid to put Wrexham off. However, a fee reported to be around £2.7m was ultimately settled on for Hyam to move to North Wales on a two-year deal, much to the anger of Blackburn fans. As reported by the Daily Mail at the time, negotiations stretched on so long that it kept Wrexham officials busy until after 10pm on deadline day in what was a late decision to pursue the experienced defender. The club even overcame the logistical nightmare of having to arrange a medical for Hyam in Glasgow, where he was away on duty with the Scotland national team. Comments were later made by Rovers chiefs implying that Wrexham may have overpaid for the 29-year-old, who only had one-year left on his contract at Ewood Park. Discussing the decision to sell Hyam, manager Valerien Ismael told the Lancashire Telegraph : "We turned down two offers so we were not willing to sell. On the Sunday, we had a lot of discussions. We put it for a high price to say, 'OK, they won't come back'. "But they came back and at some point, if the price is that high, you have to explain to the owner why you want to turn that kind of offer for a [nearly] 30-year-old player with one year left on his contract and the possibility of leaving for free next summer. "Now you can have a big amount of money, we didn't expect it and that is why in the end we had to do the deal. But we had turned down two offers that were already high. At the end, Wrexham wanted to get the deal done and I think the time was on our side. The pressure was there on their side to make the decision." The evidence so far, though, would suggest that Wrexham have definitely got the better end of the deal given Hyam's huge impact at the back. He was one of Parkinson's side's star performers on Friday evening as they won 3-2 at home against Championship leaders Coventry City , who were unbeaten this term under Frank Lampard until that point. Hyam has been highly impressive in his eight appearances to date, earning the captain's armband for the last few matches, with Wrexham picking up seven points from their last three games. The results included the win over table toppers Coventry and a 1-1 draw at second-placed Middlesbrough . Parkinson himself paid tribute to Hyam following his performance in Wrexham's 1-1 draw at home to Birmingham last month, describing him as a "colossus" in defence. "The structure of the team and the work we've done on the training ground is getting better all the time," he said. "I think we've got key players who are growing into their new club like Ben and Dom who was outstanding against Birmingham. "He's been colossus since he came in. Obviously he cramped up at the end and we brought him off, but he's just given us so much." Meanwhile, Wrexham's win over Coventry saw them rise to 15th in the table, four points ahead of Blackburn in 19th. The decision to sell Hyam is therefore one which Ishmael could live to regret.
