SHAUN PEARSON has backed proposals to introduce a National League salary cap but the Wrexham skipper thinks it would be unrealistic to have it in place before the 2020-21 season kicks off.

A figure of £900,000 has been suggested by 12 clubs in the fifth tier who are pushing to have the cap implemented.

A question and answer session with the club’s operational board back in December last year revealed that then-Reds boss Bryan Hughes had a £1,256,900 playing budget last season.

Wrexham boss Dean Keates will have a lower wage bill for the upcoming campaign as clubs cut their cloth accordingly because of the coronavirus crisis, although rivals Stockport, taken over by Mark Stott in January, have already made a number of high profile signings and will be one of the promotion favourites.

Pearson, one of only seven players currently under contract at The Racecourse, is in favour of the plans and believes fifth tier clubs can still work within the cap suggested.

"To be fair to Stockport, they could have signed players that will fall within a salary cap if there was one," said Pearson.

"People do assume people are on massive amounts of money and it is not always true. Some of the numbers that get banded about do get over-exaggerated.

"It might be a struggle to bring in a salary cap for this season because clubs have already got players under contract and things like that so it would be a difficult thing to manage.

"But it is something that football should consider moving forwards.

"The numbers they were talking about, the budgets were still plenty big enough.

"It is not as though the numbers were small so I'm sure most clubs would be more than happy to work with them numbers."

Despite Hughes having a seven-figure budget at his disposal, Wrexham were involved in a relegation battle last term and only finished 20th, one point above the drop zone, when clubs voted to end the season early.

Pearson cites this as evidence that splashing the cash does not guarantee success.

"In the three years I have been here, it is no secret that last season we had our biggest budget and it was our worst season out of the three by some way," said Pearson.

"It is probably better to have money to spend than not have money to spend but at the same time it doesn't mean you will be successful.

"Hopefully we can get a team together that is a stronger, closer knit unit than last season and back to the first couple of years that I was here, and we will be back up towards the top end."

Defender James Jennings opted against waiting to hold contract talks with Keates, instead heading to Stockport, where he has been joined by fellow ex-Reds in the shape of brother Connor, John Rooney and Alex Reid.

Although the Edgeley Park outfit have been active in the transfer market with nearly two months until the new season is set to start on October 3, Pearson insists it is not a blueprint for promotion.

"I don't know the ins and outs but they have obviously got money available," added Pearson.

"They have made a couple of good signings so it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

"It doesn't always work out or you automatically get success if you spent a lot of money as everybody has found out."