Wrexham have completed the signing of Issa Kabore after the Manchester City wing-back penned a loan deal on deadline day.
Wrexham enjoyed a busy transfer deadline day as Phil Parkinson wrapped up three new signings at the STōK Cae Ras.
Ben Sheaf joined Wrexham from Coventry City, completing a £6.5million move from the Sky Blues on Monday afternoon.
Manchester City’s Issa Kabore became Wrexham’s second deadline day signing, penning a season-long loan deal.
Dominic Hyam then signed for Wrexham late on Monday, arriving from Blackburn Rovers in a £2.7million move.
Wrexham have ended the summer window with 13 signings as Parkinson completed a full-scale revolution of his squad after promotion from League One.
Issa Kabore will miss a handful of Wrexham games
Kabore’s arrival is certainly an exciting one.
The 24-year-old was signed by City in 2020 and has now been on loan at the likes of Marseille, Luton Town, Benfica and Werder Bremen.
Kabore arrives with decent pedigree and has also racked up 49 caps for Burkina Faso, after making his international debut in 2019.
Those international commitments will actually see Kabore miss a handful of Wrexham games in the middle of the Championship season.
The Africa Cup of Nations is looming, and Burkina Faso will take on Algeria, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea in Group E.
Kabore will be a key part of Brama Traore’s squad, and that means Wrexham will lose the defender for a number of games.
Burkina Faso’s group stage games are all in December, falling on the 24th, the 28th and the 31st of the month.
Wrexham face Swansea City on 19 December, Sheffield United on 26 December, Preston North End on 29 December, Blackburn Rovers on 1 January, and Derby County on 4 January.
Kabore could miss all of those games, and possibly even more if Burkina Faso advance from Group E.
Wrexham will hope that Kabore will have permission to face Swansea before joining up with Burkina Faso, but much will depend on their pre-tournament plans.
That is far from ideal for Wrexham, but Parkinson at least has two more right wing-backs in Ryan Barnett and Ryan Longman.
Burkina Faso training camp could also impact Wrexham
Before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Burkina Faso held a pre-tournament training camp and two friendlies around three weeks out from the tournament, as noted on the official CAF website.
Kabore joined that camp late as he continued playing for Luton Town, but he still missed four games – two in the Premier League and two in the FA Cup.
Burkina Faso were knocked out in the round of 16 last time, meaning Kabore was home fairly early.
Algeria will be hot favourites to win Group E, but Burkina Faso will be heavily backed to finish second and advance to the round of 16 again.
Wrexham may selfishly hope to see Kabore home early, but seeing a Wrexham player in action at the Africa Cup of Nations will be a great sight and another sign of the club’s incredible progress in recent years.