It’s well known that Wrexham’s financial pull has helped them trump plenty of clubs to big transfers, but one player Gary Rowett admired might not even get to face him this week.
Even when Wrexham were down in the National League, they were able to lure the likes of Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer down the Football League to join the Red Dragons revolution.
They’ve continued that trend as they rise up the football ladder. Wrexham’s summer signings like Lewis O’Brien, Josh Windass, and Callum Doyle were all thought to have turned down offers elsewhere to join Phil Parkinson’s side.
But, when it comes to Ryan Longman, there’s a good chance Parkinson and co. will be regretting beating Oxford United to the punch for that particular transfer.
Oxford United wanted to sign Ryan Longman before Wrexham
Back in January, Gary Rowett spoke publicly about his interest in Ryan Longman. But, the Oxford boss already knew he wasn’t going to get his transfer wish.
At the time, he said: “He’s a player I’ve worked with before, I think he’s got obvious qualities. He’s a player we were certainly interested in but I don’t expect us to do that deal and sign that player.”
In the end, Wrexham snapped up Longman from Hull City for a fee thought to be around £500,000. He went on to register four assists and one goal in 19 appearances in League One for the Red Dragons, helping to fire them to promotion.
However, after Longman’s horrendous miss versus Stoke City at the weekend, we’re pretty sure Rowett won’t be too fussed that he missed out on the transfer at all.
After glaring miss, Ryan Longman will surely be axed by Phil Parkinson
Now, there’s a very high probability that Rowett won’t even see Longman in action this week. Wrexham fans slammed Longman’s performance on Saturday, and rightly so.
It wasn’t just the fact he missed an open goal, Longman also registered poor stats for possession and passing, and now looks destined to be dropped by Parkinson.
In our Wrexham predicted XI for the Oxford game, we suggest Liberato Cacace will step in on the left to replace Longman.