Report: Former Liverpool Star Set to Join Wrexham, Reds Youngster Eyed on Loan | OneFootball

Danny Ward is closing in on a Wrexham transfer, which would be a full circle moment for the former Liverpool goalkeeper.

Ward officially becomes a free agent this week after Leicester City made the decision to release him following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of 2024–25.

The Daily Mail writes that his Wrexham medical is scheduled for Monday, June 30. Ward is expected to be the first point of cover for starting goalkeeper Arthur Okwonko at the Racecourse.

The report also covers Wrexham interest in Liverpool defender Owen Beck. The 22-year-old has Championship experience from a loan spell at Blackburn Rovers last season and any move to north Wales for Ian Rush’s great-nephew could be another loan deal.

Ward was born and raised in Wrexham, joining the club’s youth ranks aged 14. He progressed to the first team but was poached by Liverpool in January 2012 without having made an appearance. Ward was 18 at the time and made a positive impact and even played twice towards the end of the 2015–16 Premier League season following a loan at Aberdeen.

A subsequent loan to Huddersfield Town in 2016–17 proved key in their promotion to the Premier League and Liverpool eventually cashed in, selling to Leicester in the summer of 2018 for £12.5 million ($17.1 million).

In seven years, Ward was primarily a backup to Kasper Schmeichel and later Daniel Hermansen. Ward did start the 2022–23 as first choice but was dropped before the end of the season.

But even without ever truly establishing himself as a starter throughout most of his club career, Ward has still amassed 44 senior Wales appearances since 2016 and was selected for Euro 2016, Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup, playing at least one game at all three tournaments.

Co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds (R) still have big plans for Wrexham. / IMAGO/Colorsport

Now, a return to Wrexham beckons. The club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney is about to embark on a first season in the Championship, the second tier of English football, since 1981–82, ultimately eyeing yet another promotion up to the Premier League.

Wrexham’s rapid rise, starting this journey by ending a 15-year stay in the fifth tier National League, means that turnover has to be high, recruiting better players more suited to each new level. Paul Mullin, who had struggled higher than League Two before joining in 2021, has been a victim of that this summer, staying behind in League One to sign a season-long loan at Wigan Athletic.

The club has never been in the Premier League, or its pre-1992 equivalent. Wrexham’s best ever league finish came in 1978–79 when they were 15th in what is now the Championship.

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