Wrexham will play Swansea City in the Championship next season in what will prove to be an exciting Welsh rivalry. Before then, the two clubs could have a ding-dong in the transfer market.
Wrexham have been promoted to the Championship under Phil Parkinson, earning a historic third-straight promotion under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
And they’ve booked themselves a meeting with Swansea City. The two teams last met in 2003 in the old Division Three in a game that ended 0-0. Wrexham however won’t be playing Cardiff City next season, after they were relegated from the second tier.
Already there are a number of players linked with a move to Wrexham ahead of the summer transfer window, one such player being Harry Darling who is out of contract at Swansea City this summer, and tipped to move to the Racecourse.
It would be a blow for the Swans to lose such a key player to a rival team ahead of next season. But Darling might not be the only one.
- READ MORE: Wrexham fans won’t like which football club Rob McElhenney says he finds really ‘inspiring’
Wrexham are rumoured to be interested in signing Lewis O’Brien
Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O’Brien has just spent the second half of the 2024/25 on loan with Swansea City. The former Huddersfield Town man has found himself playing here, there and everywhere since his big money move to the City Ground in 2022, being sent out on loan four times whilst making just 13 league appearances with Forest.
Once again there are rumours that he could leave the club this summer, either on loan or on a permanent basis, and certain reports have speculated that Wrexham are one of the teams interested in signing the 26-year-old. But Wrexham Insider understands that Wrexham haven’t been in contact with O’Brien so far this summer.
For the Dragons though, it could be another transfer toss-up with Swansea City whose director of football Richard Montague has made it clear that the Swans would love to sign O’Brien on a permanent basis this summer.
Lewis O’Brien could snub Wrexham for Swansea City this summer
O’Brien featured 16 times in the Championship for Swansea, who eventually finished in 11th place of the table, owing to a run of five-straight wins in the final weeks of the campaign.
And the Englishman has already hinted that he’d be open to staying with the club beyond this season, albeit admitting that the decision isn’t entirely his to make.
Speaking earlier in the campaign, O’Brien told BBC Sport: “I have really enjoyed my time here. It’s never out of the question, but sometimes it’s not in my hands, especially having to go back to my parent club. We will see what the summer holds. It’s never say never, really.”
So if Wrexham do have an interest in O’Brien this summer then it could make for a Welsh transfer battle to sign the energetic central midfielder: Swansea is now a club he knows well and has enjoyed playing for, whilst Wrexham is a new and exciting challenge. It could be a hard decision.