'Welcome to Wrexham' poster boy Paul Mullin leaves club on a season-long loan deal

WIGAN, England (AP) — Paul Mullin, the poster boy of a Wrexham team soaring through England’s soccer leagues following its takeover by Hollywood celebrities, has left the club to join third-tier Wigan on a season-long loan deal.

“I’m excited for the next part of my story," Mullin told Wigan's official website on Monday. “I’ve scored a lot of goals over the last few years, but more than anything, I give my absolute all for the club that I’m playing for, and I’m going to do that again with Wigan.”

Wigan said the loan deal was subject to the approval of the English Football League and the Football Association, and international clearance.

Mullin helped Wrexham become the first team in the history of English football’s top five divisions to secure three successive promotions, and there is a giant mural of the 30-year-old striker in the center of the city.

He formed such a close bond with Ryan Reynolds, one of the club’s owners, that he even appeared in the last “Deadpool” movie.

But Mullin, who had been Wrexham's player of the season in each of the three previous years, was only a bit-part performer when the team won promotion to the second tier last season.

It was a sudden turn of events for a player who has had a leading role in the popular “Welcome to Wrexham” fly-on-the-wall documentary created by Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to follow their progress as rookie soccer club owners.

McElhenney once hailed Mullin as “one of the greatest football players in the world.”

Mullin has scored 110 goals in 172 games for Wrexham.

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