Ahead of the club’s first season at second tier level since 1982, the spotlight in the transfer window will very much remain on Wrexham.
The North Wales club wrote themselves into the history books after becoming the first in English football history to achieve three successive promotions, rising from the National League to the Championship in no time at all, making light work of League Two and League One in between.
Of course, the second tier is a whole different beast altogether, as the Red Dragons are set to face off against a plethora of ex-Premier League clubs, four of which will be benefitting from parachute payments in the form of Leicester City, Ipswich Town, Southampton and the recently defeated play-off finalists, Sheffield United.
However, that isn’t set to deter those in the boardroom, with an extraordinary revelation claiming Phil Parkinson will have a £25m transfer kitty at his disposal, and the 57-year-old is also exploring the loan market, which includes establishing connections with Premier League clubs, sourcing some of their hottest prospects.
With that in mind, FLW asked our Wrexham fan pundit, Liam Grice, which top-flight player would be a realistic temporary signing this summer.
Wrexham AFC urged to consider Jayden Danns loan move despite frustrating Sunderland stint
Grice opted for 19-year-old Jayden Danns, who broke into the first-team picture at Liverpool during Jürgen Klopp’s final season, being dubbed one of “Klopp’s Kids” who featured in the EFL Cup final victory over Chelsea in February 2024, before making four appearances during Arne Slot’s title-winning debut season at Anfield.
The young centre-forward has netted three goals for the Reds thus far, and was sent out on loan to Sunderland in January, but failed to make an appearance for the Black Cats in their eventual play-off winning campaign, failing to return to fitness as the North East club pressed forward with the temporary switch despite the fact a back injury was flagged up during his medical at the Stadium of Light.
Regardless, Grice believes that Wrexham’s locality in relation to the Merseyside outfit could play a factor on top of the striker offering fresh attributes to an ageing squad.
“I do think it would make sense for Wrexham to make use of their local distance to clubs such as Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool and Everton as a way to bring in good youngsters on loan,” he explained.
“If I’m going off that theme, one youngster who I think is a realistic target we can bring in to help bolster our squad is Jayden Danns from Liverpool,” Grice stated.
Danns’ Liverpool career stats – per Transfermarkt
Team
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Liverpool U18
33
24
4
Liverpool U21
10
3
2
Liverpool
9
3
0
Liverpool UEFA U19
2
1
0
“Obviously, he went on loan to the Championship last season and got injured, so he didn’t get a chance to prove himself. But, I think he can come in and start straight away for us.
“We know he has the ability, he’s played for Liverpool and showed that ability at a higher level.
“If he can do it consistently in the Championship for a newly-promoted club, it could benefit us because his goals will help us survive, but it would also benefit him and give him a chance of getting in that Liverpool squad sooner rather than later,” our fan pundit concluded.
Jayden Danns would give Wrexham AFC’s attack a different dimension
Question marks have already been raised regarding Wrexham’s transfer policy heading into the Championship despite links to Tom Cairney and Aaron Cresswell, as whilst the duo would bring in so much experience, the Red Dragons already had the second-oldest squad by average age in League One at 28.4.
And, whilst Steven Fletcher has recently departed the club, the likes of Paul Mullin, Ollie Palmer and Jay Rodriguez remain on the books alongside record signing Sam Smith and Jack Marriott, although it remains to be seen if the first two of the quintet can make the step-up in the latter stages of their respective careers.
Therefore, it’s no surprise why Parkinson is targeting loan moves, having made just one at the Stok Cae Ras during his tenure thus far, and the addition of Danns would add a whole new dimension to his frontline, with the striker’s pace and dynamism a real threat, which suits Wrexham down to the ground.
As Grice alluded to, a strong spell in the Championship would only aid Wrexham’s well-documented progression as a club – which is to eventually reach the Premier League for the first time ever – as well as Danns’ progression, with plenty of the country’s most-potent goalscorers all enjoying fruitful spells in the EFL during the infancy of their own careers.
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