Wrexham tipped to break transfer record for second time this summer after Ryan Reynolds sets budget for new striker

Wrexham could smash their transfer record for the second time this summer amid reports of a huge budget being made available to sign a striker.

The Red Dragons are closing in on a club-record £2.2 million move for left-back Liberato Cacace from Serie A side Empoli.

In recent days, they have also been linked with bids to sign Bolton captain George Thomason and Hull centre-back Alfie Jones.

Wrexham's recruitment is beginning to gather pace, with the club having already signed free agent goalkeeper Danny Ward and striker Ryan Hardie from Plymouth in a £700,000 deal.

They are also reportedly in talks to sign forward Josh Windass, who cancelled his contract with Sheffield Wednesday after the club failed to pay his wages in May or June.

Wrexham have been linked with a move to sign former Sheff Wed star Josh Windass (Image: Getty)

The 31-year-old netted 13 goals in the Championship last season, and he is one of a host of players to quit Hillsborough this summer.

Among them could be 33-year-old striker Michael Smith, with The Sun reporting that the former Rotherham and Portsmouth man is also attracting interest from Wrexham among other clubs in the Championship and League One.

But Smith will almost certainly be joined at the Racecourse Ground by another centre forward.

The Sun add that Wrexham majority co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have handed manager Phil Parkinson a £10 million budget to spend on a new number nine.

That would represent five times the cost of their current record signing, striker Sam Smith.

On the face of it, Wrexham spending such a fee would be a major surprise - but the competition that exists within Championship shopping destinations means the Red Dragons have accepted they will need to splash the cash.

Derby's move for Charlotte FC striker Patrick Agyemang, 24, could be a reference point, with the Rams spending a potential fee of £7.3 million to sign the USA international - a warning sign over how much Wrexham may need to spend.

Speaking last month, Reynolds told the Men in Blazers podcast about what he was expecting from the upcoming season.

"My expectations are, to go for it," he said. "We will maintain the best dressing room in the sport, in any sport.

"And we will go into it, Rob and I at least, the same as we go into every season, which is with an open mind and an open heart, and really just listening again.

"That's the thing about being promoted three times in a row. It keeps being new. Everyone else does [know what they're doing], and that makes the novice a little dangerous.

"'Let's spend some money on that, let's do that, that sounds like a good signing'. I don't know. I trust Phil explicitly."