Wrexham are returning to League One next season, and despite their current momentum, they’ll need a big summer to be competitive.

The League One roster is looking extremely strong for the 2024/25 season.

Wrexham will be joined by the relegated Championship teams Rotherham United, Huddersfield Town, and Birmingham City.

Then there’s the clubs in the top six who’ll eventually miss out on promotion, whilst the likes of Wrexham, Stockport County, and Mansfield Town may be dark horses after coming up from League Two.

Wrexham have already got their first-team shaping underway with eight players released, including Ben Tozer and Luke Young.

Phil Parkinson now has a more streamlined squad on which he can build and add, and here are five Championship free agents who’d immediately improve his Wrexham outfit…

Will Vaulks

The Welshman sees his Sheffield Wednesday contract expire this summer, and his future remains unclear.

A hardened midfielder, Vaulks would add definite quality and steel to the Wrexham midfield ranks, which will be crucial in demanding League One campaign.

There’ll be plenty of interest in Vaulks if he becomes a free agent; he ends the season as Wednesday’s second-highest rated player as per Sofascore, leading the team for tackles per game (2.4) and also interceptions (1.5).

Vaulks is also something of a set-piece specialist with his deliveries and long passes for Sheffield Wednesday catching the eye.

Paddy McNair

Ex-Manchester United man Paddy McNair sees his Middlesbrough contract expire this summer.

BBC confirmed on Sunday that the 29-year-old will leave the club after six years and 219 total appearances and there’ll surely be plenty of Football League interest in the 67-cap Northern Ireland defender.

And with Wrexham’s defensive ranks having been depleted following the release of Tozer, Jordan Tunnicliffe and Aaron Hayden among others, Parkinson could do with a versatile name at the back.

McNair is able to play in the middle or as a defensive midfielder, and given his previous experience, he’d surely bring a lot of much-needed quality to the Dragons’ ranks.

Tyrese Campbell

Another Championship departure already confirmed ahead of the summer is Tyrese Campbell at Stoke City.

The 24-year-old netted 36 goals and assisted 24 more in 164 total appearances for the Potters, with Campbell having scored just three league goals in the 2023/24 season.

Injury has hampered him in the last two years.

But he’s found his fitness in the past few months and found his scoring touch too, scoring two in his last two games for Stoke City.

Online highlights show that Campbell is a typical poacher-type striker, but one who boasts bags of pace and can run in behind defences, so he’d certainly add something new to the current crop of strikers at Wrexham.

Liam Cooper

Another name who could bolster the depleted defensive ranks at Wrexham this summer is Liam Cooper.

The Leeds United skipper is out of contract in the summer and looks to face an uncertain future at the club, regardless of whether or not they’re promoted.

He’s played a back-up role this season, but during Leeds’ 2019/20 promotion season, Coper was in fine form; per Sofascore, he made the most clearances per game for Leeds that season (3), ending as their sixth-highest rated player.

He’s a real force in the air and a hugely experienced pro, with more than 200 Championship appearances to his name.

Jamie Vardy

Former England striker Jamie Vardy has been in Wrexham headlines recently, after Dragons chief Humphrey Ker suggested that Vardy would be a good signing for the Welsh club.

He’s yet to formalise his Leicester City contract, though there’s growing reports that he’s set to do so.

But if not then he’d be a huge potential signing for Wrexham with Ker clearly a fan of his, and rightly so; Vardy scored 18 in the Championship this season despite being 37 years old.

Wrexham would certainly be a new and intriguing chapter in his career.

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