Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney prepare to smash Wrexham AFC transfer record with stunning deal | OneFootball

The Red Dragons are set to make a real statement signing.

Wrexham are reportedly poised to complete a £4m deal to sign Empoli defender Liberato Cacace, a transfer fee that would set a new club record.

The Red Dragons are looking to continue their Hollywood rise through the EFL in the Championship next season.

Phil Parkinson's side will be going for a fourth-straight promotion in the second tier next term, which if successful, will mean they've gone from playing non-league football in 2023 to the top of English football by 2026.

Accomplishing that, however, may well prove to be the club's toughest test during the Ryan Reynolds-Rob McElhenney era, but Wrexham have already made some eye-catching signings in the form of Ryan Hardie and Danny Ward, and now they look set to make perhaps their biggest yet.

Wrexham set to break club-record transfer fee on Empoli defender Liberato Cacae

As revealed by journalist Pete O'Rourke via his X account on Thursday afternoon, Wrexham are set to sign Empoli defender Liberato Cacace.

O'Rourke claims that should the deal go through, it will set a new Wrexham club-record for a transfer fee paid, with the agreement said to be worth up to £4m.

The Red Dragons' current record transfer was the signing of Sam Smith in January, which talkSPORT reported cost the club £2m.

Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has also claimed that the deal to bring 24-year-old Cacace to the Racecourse Ground is done, with the deal said to be setting Wrexham back an initial €2.5m/£2.1m plus bonuses.

Cacace looks to be a major coup for Wrexham

Cacace will be bringing some major pedigree to Wrexham.

The 35-cap New Zealand international is a highly versatile player, who can and has operated as a left-back, centre-back, left and right-winger, in central midfield and as a more advanced attacking midfielder.

Therefore, he fits the profile of being a Swiss Army Knife type of player, who can pretty much fill any role in the side that Parkinson may ask of him - those kinds of players always prove to be worth their weight in gold.

He is a left-back by trade however, and has been playing Serie A football with Empoli since he joined the club on an initial loan deal in January 2022 from Belgian outfit St. Truiden, before making his switch to the Tuscany-based side permanent in the summer of 2022.

Cacace began his career in his homeland of New Zealand with Wellington Phoenix, before moving to Belgian football in the summer of 2020.

Having played over 60 times in Serie A over the last two seasons, the defender has regularly been testing himself at one of the highest levels of European football, in which he'll have been coming up against some of the best players on the continent, and indeed, the world.

As such, to add a player with that level of experience under his belt, and one who is still just 24 years old, looks to be a superb piece of business by Wrexham, and one that will really put a statement of intent to the rest of the Championship.