Wrexham may be forgiven for planning a big summer transfer window before the season is over, with the Dragons currently perched in 2nd place of the League One table.
Fate has been on Wrexham’s side for the last few years. And with the Dragons now in the driving seat in the race for 2nd in League One, many might well be expecting the club to go on and secure a third-straight promotion under owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
That, in turn, would no doubt prompt a lucrative summer transfer window. In January, Wrexham signed Sam Smith for £2million. The striker became the club’s record signing after the previous record was smashed in the summer transfer window before this season. Several times in fact.
But promotion to the Championship would require another step up in quality and inevitably, more money spent on players. Though the free agent market would still be on great use to the Dragons who could have the lure of Championship football to attract some top new signings.
One such player could be Tom Lawrence.
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Tom Lawrence’s Rangers future hangs in the balance amid Wrexham links
Ahead of the summer, Wrexham have been linked with Rangers midfielder Lawrence who is out of contract in the summer. The 31-year-old Welshman looks poised to leave Ibrox having featured just 15 times in the Scottish Premiership this season, albeit scoring four and assisting twice.
On Wednesday, though, Rangers appointed Kevin Thelwell as their new sporting director, who’s spoken of the ‘huge honour’ it is to join the club. The Gers are undergoing some sweeping changes off the pitch with talks of a takeover ongoing as well, and all this change is bound to leave Lawrence stuck in limbo about where his future lies.
Then on top of all of that, Rangers are without a permanent manager. Thelwell and whoever comes in as manager will surely want to take stock of the squad and decide who stays and goes meaning Lawrence’s future is very uncertain right now. Rangers have an option to extend his stay by a year but it’s unclear whether they’ll trigger that option.
Wrexham need to make one key change to their transfer acumen
Over the last few years Wrexham have relied on signing older, more experienced players. It’s worked, but there needs to be more thought for the future now. There needs to be a blend of young and older signings at the club.
Lawrence is only 31 and so he’s not as old as some of the current names, like Jay Rodriguez and Steven Fletcher. But Phil Parkinson and co really need to start thinking about what this Wrexham side will look like in a few year’s time.
That, and the club could do a lot worse than signing youngsters and helping them blossom into very valuable assets for the club. Signing someone like Lawrence, who earns £22k-a-week per Salary Sport, whilst it may help for the next couple of years, doesn’t give Wrexham any real sell-on value.