Vyner braces for eye-opening Wrexham popularity in US

Wrexham defender Zak Vyner is excited to see for himself how popular the Welsh club is in the United States. The Championship side, which recently played friendlies against Wisla Krakow in Poland and Manchester United in Finland, has traveled to the US for three pre-season matches.

Previous Wrexham tours to America attracted enormous crowds, driven by the global profile of owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and the success of the "Welcome to Wrexham" documentary series. "It's going to be a lot of hard work, but it'll be a great experience for me to get a taste of it," Vyner said.

"I only sort of get a taste of the American fans through social media and when I signed and the amount of love that I have got from them. In that way, I haven't actually seen it first-hand yet, so I'm really excited." He noted that the European friendlies gave him a glimpse of how Wrexham fans travel, but his teammates say the US experience is ten times bigger.

Vyner, 29, joined Wrexham from Bristol City in January for an undisclosed fee. He arrived with a toe injury and later missed the final five games of the season with a groin problem. He admitted that settling into a new club takes time, both on and off the pitch.

Wrexham's US tour includes matches against Leeds in Tampa on July 26, Liverpool in New York on July 30, and Sunderland in Philadelphia on August 2. Vyner is eager to make an impression: "I'm ready to go, I feel good, I feel fit. These tours, and pre-season in general, are for everyone to essentially give the manager a headache. I'm looking to do that and hopefully have some more games, get some more minutes, get myself fitter and just be ready for the season."