Hollywood-owned Wrexham have been encouraged to try and sign a Premier League striker in their bid to make their squad strong enough to compete in the Championship next season
Wrexham have been urged to make a raid for Newcastle United star Callum Wilson. The striker, who has won nine caps for England, faces an uncertain future as he enters the final weeks of his contract at St James' Park.
Wilson joined the Toon from Bournemouth for £20million in September 2020, and has scored 47 Premier League goals in 110 appearances. But repeated back and hamstring issues, coupled with the rise of Alexander Isak, have resulted in limited opportunities for the 33-year-old this season.
He has made 21 appearances for Newcastle across all competitions this season, but has scored just one goal, and only started twice. Hollywood-owned Wrexham are now being encouraged to try and secure Wilson's services following their recent promotion from League One into the Championship, with the forward potentially becoming a free agent in the near future.
The call has been made by former Liverpool and Newcastle midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who thinks Wilson would be the perfect fit for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's team. If the Red Dragons do pursue a move for him, their chances of success may depend on Newcastle landing one of their key summer transfer targets.
Canada international Jonathan David is reportedly being pursued by the Toon in a deal believed to be worth more than £10million. The 25-year-old has confirmed he will definitely be leaving French side Lille at the end of the season and his arrival could help pave the way for Wilson's departure.
Speaking to BettingLounge.co.uk, Hamann said: "Callum Wilson would absolutely be a great signing for Wrexham. Newcastle will probably improve their squad for next season and it will be even harder to get game time.
"For Wrexham, if they want to get promoted into the Premier League they will probably need to have a Premier League level squad given the quality of the teams at the top of the Championship.
"So they will be looking at Premier League players and we've seen teams do back to back promotions from League One to the Premier League in recent years, Wrexham could be a similar story."
He added: "A player like Callum Wilson with that experience, he will be able to keep the level up in the Championship and teach the young lads, I could see that signing being a success."
Wrexham have already been linked with a number of Premier League stars following their latest promotion, including Fulham captain Tom Cairney and Leicester legend Jamie Vardy. However, a director of the Welsh club has spoken out this week to cool some of the rumours surrounding their summer transfer plans.
Comedian and actor Humphrey Ker set the record straight while appearing on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X. Ker emphatically answered "no" when asked by Moyles if there was any truth in reports linking them to Vardy.
He then said: "Actually, I should stop doing this, because eventually you might say someone where I have to be like, 'Yes.' I will say that one of the things is that – much like Ryan Reynolds – the name Wrexham generates clicks, so we are starting now to get linked with absolutely everybody.
"I'm like, 'Who?' I saw our fans getting absolutely incandescent on Twitter about it. 'What on Earth are they doing trying to sign this guy?' when none of us have heard of him before."
Former Radio 1 DJ Moyles then read out a message from a Fulham fan called Daniel, urging Ker and Wrexham to steer clear of Cairney. "Daniel, you got it," said Ker, before adding: "I mean, he's a brilliant player, Tom Cairney, and I'm sure we'd be very grateful to have him.
"But he is the very specific instance where our fans were like, 'I’m not sure about this, I don't know what they're doing. What does this mean about our transfer thing?' Like, we haven't had that conversation yet."