Wrexham AFC should consider bold transfer for a player who used to earn £70k-a-week at Newcastle United | OneFootball

Following their promotion to the Championship, Wrexham should consider a move for former Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.

Following their promotion to the Championship, Wrexham will seek to once again be ambitious in this summer’s transfer window and the possibility of Jonjo Shelvey moving to the Racecourse is one that should be explored by the club.

The Red Dragons have earned themselves three successive promotions to go from non-league all the way to the second-tier of English football but their ownership duo of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds will not want the story to end there.

In the last year or so, Phil Parkinson’s side have begun to bring in more former Premier League players as they continue to target players from a higher level with the likes of Matty James, James McClean, Steven Fletcher and Jay Rodriguez arriving in north Wales and they will continue to look increase the quality within their squad.

Following links with Jamie Vardy, who will be departing Leicester City this summer, and Jonny Evans, who will be departing Manchester United this summer, another former Premier League star that fits the bill is Jonjo Shelvey, who is set to be a free agent with his contract at Burnley up at the end of this season.

Shelvey is a perfect fit for Parkinson’s Wrexham

33-year-old Romford-born Shelvey, who has six England caps to his name between 2012 and 2015 after representing his country at U16, U17, U19 and U21 level, is set to depart Burnley this summer having made two appearances for Scott Parker’s Clarets as they gained automatic promotion back to the Premier League.

The former Liverpool midfielder, who once earned £70,000 per week at Newcastle United, departed English football in the summer of 2023 when he would go on two spend a year and a half in the Turkish Super Lig with Caykur Rizespor for a season before a move to Eyupspor.

Whilst he hasn’t played too much football in the last couple of years, the qualities that made Shelvey an England international should still remain with his ability from dead ball situations and general eye for a pass in open play something that would be ideal for a Parkinson team.

Once a gung-ho side under Parkinson, Wrexham have battened down the hatches to go into his typical style of football to grind out automatic promotion from League One and that defensive, solid approach is expected to be replicated in the second division.

That approach means there is an extra emphasis and importance on set-pieces and set-piece delivery, which is something that Shelvey would be able to provide in the midfield alongside James, Oli Rathbone, George Dobson, George Evans and Andy Cannon.

The evolution of Wrexham’s squad

When in the National League, Wrexham sought to bring in arguably the best in class from League One and League Two such as Aaron Hayden, Ben Tozer, Ollie Palmer and Paul Mullin.

That trend has continued as they have risen up through the leagues and the last couple of transfer windows has seen them able to expand that to ex-Premier League players but that has mainly been in attack for the extra sprinkling of quality.

As they make another step up the English football pyramid, the need for extra quality in all areas of the pitch will be there and Shelvey, definitely in terms of quality and especially in terms of pedigree and Premier League experience, fits the bill.

A lot of players would fit the bill of simply having a bit more quality and being from the Premier League but the exact attributes of Shelvey seem to make him ideal for a Parkinson team.

Heading up from League One to the Championship can be a fairly big step up but a few clubs have been able to bridge it with relative ease following the addition of some experience from a higher level, such as David McGoldrick joining Sheffield United from Ipswich Town a few years ago and Ipswich themselves bringing Kieffer Moore back mid-way through their promotion push last season.

Ahead of what could be a busy summer for Wrexham, they have a few out of contract players such as Bradley Foster and Josh Adam, whilst 38-year-old goalkeeper Mark Howard is also set to be a free agent.

There are a couple of key first-teamers with their futures up in the air at the moment such as defender Eoghan O’Connell as well as former Wolves striker Fletcher, both of whom are set to be out of contract this summer.