Former Wrexham captain Luke Young believes Phil Parkinson has a ‘special’ player on his hands but he has to prove his worth in pre-season.
Luke Young was a crucial part of the furniture at Wrexham long before Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds took over the club in February 2021.
The 31-year-old arrived from Torquay United in the summer of 2018, spending six years at the Racecourse Ground and amassing over 250 appearances till his release this summer.
Young achieved a dream period at Wrexham by captaining Phil Parkinson’s men to consecutive promotions, with the Reds now gearing up for a campaign in League One.
The midfield general has since described the Wrexham dressing room as the best he’s been a part of, making friends for life, including midfielder Jordan Davies.
Luke Young labels Jordan Davies a ‘special’ talent, says where he needs to improve
Young shared a room with Davies for several years and learned a lot about his teammate during that time.
Emerging as an important figure in the National League, Davies scored 15 goals in the 2021/22 campaign as Wrexham narrowly missed out on promotion via the play-offs.
The 25-year-old then made 27 appearances in the title-winning season before making just two starts in League Two last term.
Davies was cut a frustrated figure as Parkinson preferred the likes of Andy Cannon, George Evans and Elliot Lee over him.
Heading into their pre-season tour of America, Young believes Wrexham’s ‘special’ talent is more than good enough to start in League One but only if he improves a certain area of his game.
“There’s no doubt about Jord’s ability, that he’s got something special,” Young told the Rob Ryan Red podcast.
“I think, from his point of view, he just needs to have that head down, work hard and just give himself the best opportunity to give the manager a headache and just say ‘We all know I’ve got the ability, I’m going to show you I can run’ because the gaffer is hard on running stats, especially with himself.
“And just go and prove to him that he can do it. I know full well that he can, it’s down to him to put that work and effort in which I know he was doing at the back end of the season.”
Can Jordan Davies play a part next season?
Wrexham’s midfield is the position that is saturated with the most quality.
Cannon, Lee, Evans and James McClean have all played League One previously and given Parkinson is looking to add to that with the addition of Marc Leonard, it’s difficult to see where Davies gets game time.
The Welsh maestro has shown glimpses of his talent in flashes but as Young mentioned, his work rate will have to drastically improve, especially if he is to displace the fittest player in the squad, McClean.
With a year left on his contract, Davies is entering a season-defining period and he’ll need to prove his worth to Parkinson in pre-season to stand any chance of featuring.
Davies, like many others, has been at Wrexham since before McElhenney and Reynolds arrived.
Sadly, though, he may succumb to a similar fate that Young experienced; released at the end of his contract in 2025, unless he can sprinkle some magic from his boots.