Wrexham have lodged a bid worth around £100k for Sligo Rovers goalkeeper Luke McNicholas, according to a report.
The club are seeking a young goalkeeper to compete with Ben Foster (40) and Mark Howard (36), and have identified the 23-year-old Irishman as the ideal signing in this regard.
The goalkeeper has made 48 appearances for Sligo Rovers, conceding 69 goals and keeping nine clean sheets, whilst also appearing in European qualifiers for his Republic of Ireland-based club.
The Independent have revealed the news of the bid, which would see him join in an initial rotational role in order to freshen up the goalkeeping roster available to Phil Parkinson.
This could be Wrexham’s third signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Will Boyle and James McClean, as the Red Dragons aim for back-to-back promotions having just returned to the Football League.
Building for the future
If he arrives, it is likely that McNicholas will see a fair amount of game time as he rotates with Foster, and if he settles well, he may be the eventual successor to the veteran.
It remains to be seen whether Foster will want to continue his career beyond this season, and long-term planning will be needed to help replace him.
Wrexham are therefore being proactive in their attempts to find a long-term solution in goal, as both of the current options are too old to plan a future around, and if McNicholas performs well, he could be a very astute addition.
Foster has performed well since coming out of retirement to join Wrexham, but if this season is to be his last, then the club will need to replace both his goalkeeping ability as well as his experience and influence within the dressing room.
McClean’s arrival will also add more pedigree to the squad, and if Wrexham do achieve promotion again, they can continue to target higher profile names to drop down divisions to join them.