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In simple terms, a major financial investment has brought success on the pitch.
Wrexham have strengthened their first team with significant signings. Striker Paul Mullin (currently on loan at Bradford City), score 38 goals as he helped end the club's 15‑year stay in the National League as champions in 2023.
Beating rivals to experienced players such as Steven Fletcher and James McClean has been owed in part to the substantial wages on offer. This season, Wrexham shattered their transfer record to sign Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich Town in a deal worth up to £10m.
Yet, just as Chelsea had John Terry, at the heart of the project is academy‑produced defender Max Cleworth.
Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson told BBC Sport at the FT Business of Football Summit: "You saw in this last transfer window, going from League One to the Championship, we brought in 13 new players, right? Which is a massive change.
"People say, 'Oh, you had a transfer market where your net spend was £30m'. Well, that's because we had no players we could sell. Norwich probably spent just as much, if not more, but they also sold a lot of players - same with Ipswich.
"Max Cleworth was playing with us in the National League and now has the most minutes for our club in the Championship. So it's about building the foundation and then adding the supplements."
Not everyone likes missing out on transfers - Bayern Munich's former chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge called on the European Union to regulate the spending, while then Shrewsbury Town manager Gareth Ainsworth said it was "not fair" to be competing with Wrexham because of "all the money they had".
As the Abramovich playbook showed, spending must come at all levels - and happen quickly. Chelsea moved from a second‑rate training ground at Harlington, shared with Imperial College, to a state‑of‑the‑art facility, invested heavily in their academy and women's team, and made two attempts to redevelop Stamford Bridge under their former owner.
Wrexham, meanwhile, operate a Category Three academy but aim to reach Category One.
Their women's team is also receiving increased investment, moving to semi‑professional status and competing for the Welsh league title after beating rivals Cardiff City in the Welsh League Cup. They also bought them a stadium.
Chelsea's visit also exposes the strains of Wrexham's rapid growth, with about 250 media representatives expected - far above the usual 80 at Championship matches.
"If we arrive in the Premier League, there are things we'll have to do to other stands in relation to broadcast, building out TV gantries and providing media spaces," Williamson added. "That would be the next kind of infrastructure investment."
Only three stands will remain open at the 10,600‑seat Stok Cae Ras until the new Kop stand opens next April, taking capacity to more than 18,000.
"The Kop stand will have new amenities, fan engagement areas and an iconic design for the town, city and club," Williamson said.
Wrexham's next "North Star", according to Williamson, is hosting matches as part of the UK bid for the 2035 Women's World Cup. That would require expanding capacity further to about 24,000.
Williamson also highlights how even after going from 40 to 150 permanent staff in five years, he still has to help out with jobs like moving boxes of football shirts, which are now being sold in the United States for the first time.
