Wrexham brutally transfer list player less than 24 hours before start of Championship season

A Wrexham star is reportedly close to leaving the club on the eve of the Red Dragons’ Championship opener against Southampton.

Wrexham, who are owned by Hollywood actors Rob Mac – formerly Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds - will take on Southampton on Saturday, who, last season were a Premier League side while the Red Dragons were still competing in League One.

At 12:30 pm on Saturday, the Red Dragons will play their first second-tier game since 1982, and their cause will be helped by several new faces.

Phil Parkinson’s side have been fairly active in the summer window with Lewis O’Brien, Liberato Cacace, Conor Coady, George Thomason, Ryan Hardie, Danny Ward, Josh Windass and Kieffer Moore joining the club.

But a fan favourite who has helped Wrexham to three consecutive promotions could soon be set to leave the club after holding talks with head coach Parkinson.

Wrexham face Southampton on Saturday (Credit:Getty)

Forward Ollie Palmer arrived from Wimbledon in 2022 for a reported £300,000 fee and has proved his worth by netting 42 times in 149 appearances for the North Wales side.

Palmer, 33, who is currently in the final year of his contract, struggled in League One and scored just three times in 27 appearances despite the side clinching promotion to the Championship.

Speaking on Friday, Parkinson issued an update on the situation.

"Kieffer Moore comes in, I've had a good chat with Ollie Palmer this week. He needs to go and play this season, he knows that," said the Wrexham boss.

"He's been a great servant to the club, a real key player in the climb up the divisions but he's ready to go and play, so there's an example.

"We spoke about Jacob Mendy a couple of weeks ago and there's other players in that category.

Ollie Palmer in action during pre-season (Credit:Getty)

"But equally, there's also a group who want to prove themselves and they're going to get the opportunity to do that.

"There's a lot of players who have enjoyed being a part of this club and rightly so.

"But they know for their own careers they need to play. If we feel that the time is right for that to happen, then we'll help it happen and get them a club where we feel it's going to be beneficial for them."

This comes after Palmer’s fellow Wrexham legend Paul Mullin was loaned to League One side Wigan Athletic earlier this summer.