Exclusive: Middlesbrough and Wrexham in transfer chase for 9-goal Tottenham player | OneFootball

Two Championship promotion contenders are keeping tabs on a current second tier loanee ahead of the summer transfer window

Middlesbrough and Wrexham both have aspirations to be Premier League clubs come the 2026-27 season, and they are both keeping tabs on a current Championship loan striker ahead of knowing what division they'll be in in a few months time, Football League World has been exclusively informed.

Boro's top two credentials were further strengthened this past weekend with a dominant 4-0 drubbing of Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, with scoring goals no issue whatsoever under Swedish head coach Kim Hellberg as they returned to having a four-point gap over third-placed Millwall.

Wrexham meanwhile maintained their sixth-placed spot in the Championship standings without even playing in league action, as they instead battled Chelsea in an FA Cup thriller in North Wales, going down 4-2 in extra time to the Club World Cup champions.

There's a chance that both the Teessiders and the Red Dragons will be top flight clubs for next season, but despite not knowing where they'll be plying their trade, one particular player has caught the eye of their respective recruitment teams.

Middlesbrough and Wrexham eyeing Tottenham striker Will Lankshear

FLW can exclusively reveal that Tottenham starlet Will Lankshear is the player that both Boro and Wrexham are keeping tabs on ahead of next season, with the view to making a move when the transfer window re-opens in June.

The 20-year-old - who signed for Spurs in 2022 from Sheffield United's academy system in a deal that could end up being worth £2.5 million, having previously also been with Arsenal until 2021 - is currently in his second loan stint away from the north London outfit, having endured a bit of a struggle at West Brom in the second half of 2024-25, scoring no goals in 11 Championship outings for the Baggies.

Lankshear though is somewhat thriving at Oxford United despite their struggles at the wrong end of the Championship standings, with nine goals in all competitions to his name - eight of those have come in league action.

The England youth international's exploits in the second tier of English football have not gone unnoticed, with Boro and Wrexham now keeping a close eye on Lankshear's developments ahead of the season ending.

Lankshear is contracted at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until the summer of 2029, and has already made six appearances for the Spurs first-team.

Perhaps most notably in November 2024, just a couple of months before his loan stint at West Brom, Lankshear not only scored his first Spurs senior goal in the UEFA Europa League away at Galatasaray, he was also sent off for two yellow cards in the same match.

Could Tottenham sanction permanent Will Lankshear exit this summer?

It remains to be seen as to whether Spurs would allow Lankshear to depart the club on a permanent basis, but the fact he signed a new contract until 2029 in July 2024 suggests that at some point, the club did have a big plan for him.

Times do change though, but Spurs' permanent attacking options aren't exactly the strongest, with Richarlison scoring eight goals in 24 Premier League matches so far this season, whilst Dominic Solanke has struggled with his fitness.

Tottenham are also not yet safe from a shock relegation to the Championship, and if that were to happen, then you'd expect Lankshear to be a part of the push back to the Premier League.

However, if Spurs were to go on a run and survive under Igor Tudor, then the chances of Lankshear departing - on loan or maybe even on a permanent basis - would no doubt increase, and the chase is already underway for his services after seeing what he has done and how he has developed himself at Oxford.