Wrexham have identified their first signing of the summer, and it's a smart one. Crystal Palace fullback Danny Imray is set to join the Red Dragons in a deal worth around £5 million, handing Phil Parkinson a genuine first-choice option at right wingback ahead of their second Championship campaign.
The 23-year-old has never made a competitive appearance for Palace's first team, but that doesn't tell the full story. Imray spent the second half of last season on loan at West Brom after Crystal Palace pulled him from Blackpool in January — the kind of recall that happens when a player is doing something right. He'd already impressed through the EFL ranks at Bromley and Blackpool before earning that step up to the Championship with the Baggies.
Who moves on when Imray arrives
The signing isn't just an addition — it's a restructure. Aaron James is lined up for a loan exit, and Ryan Barnett is expected to leave the club entirely. That clears the path for Imray to start, with Ryan Longman as cover. Wrexham rotated all three through the right wingback role in preseason, which tells you all you need to know about how settled that position wasn't.
Parkinson's side finished seventh last season, two points outside the playoff places. That kind of near-miss tends to sharpen a manager's thinking in the window, and prioritising the right wingback role makes tactical sense — Wrexham's best football comes through wide areas, and a player with Imray's pace and attacking instinct fits the system.
There's an eligibility angle worth tracking too. Born in England, Imray qualifies for Trinidad and Tobago, a country with genuine history at Wrexham — Denis Lawrence represented them at the 2006 World Cup while at the club. Whether international football becomes part of Imray's story remains open, but the connection is there.
What this means for Wrexham's promotion picture
At £5 million for a player who's yet to start consistently at Championship level, this is a bet on upside as much as proven quality. The belief inside the club, reportedly, is that Imray has the ceiling to play Premier League football if Wrexham get there. That's the kind of profile that makes sense — buying the trajectory, not just the present.
Wrexham's odds of making the playoffs next season will depend heavily on whether they can turn near-misses into decisions, and a committed £5m outlay on a young wingback with room to grow suggests the club is thinking beyond just staying in the division. Promotion ambitions require squad depth and quality at every position. Right wingback was a gap. It's about to get filled.
