Former Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward is set to join Championship outfit Wrexham, in a move that takes him back to his home town in Wales.
Ward’s career hasn’t always gone completely to plan, particularly at Liverpool, but at 32 years old he is now returning to his hometown club, Wrexham.
According to several sources, including the Mirror, Wrexham have agreed a deal to sign Ward and is set to undergo his medical.
Ward will become a free agent on July 1 as his contract expires at Leicester, where he has resided since leaving Liverpool in 2018.
Despite being a Leicester player for seven years, he made just 52 appearances for the club, including five last season.
Across those 52 games, he kept 18 clean sheets and conceded 75 goals, with the most appearances coming in the Foxes’ 2022/23 Premier League campaign.
The goalkeeper, who has 44 Wales caps, played 26 times in the league that season as Leicester were relegated in 18th position, finishing two points behind Everton.
Arriving at Wrexham, he should become their first choice between the posts, and he isn’t the only high-profile signing Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are funding this summer.
They have already brought in Plymouth striker Ryan Hardie, who scored to knock Liverpool out of the FA Cup this season. The likes of Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings, both free agents, have also been linked.
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Danny Ward’s journey from Wrexham to Liverpool and home again
It takes less than an hour to drive from Wrexham to Liverpool, but when Ward signed for the Reds as an 18-year-old, it felt like a big leap.
Over the next six years, he would progress from academy goalkeeper to first-team backup, before even being touted as a potential No. 1 – that was until Liverpool signed Alisson.
In between loan spells at Morecambe, Aberdeen and Huddersfield, Ward played three times for Liverpool, all three appearances coming under Jurgen Klopp.
While starts were few and far between, he did make the squad on a further 53 occasions.
After the Champions League final in 2018, when Loris Karius all but ensured he wouldn’t have a future career at Liverpool, it was even briefed to local reporters that Ward would have the chance to make the No. 1 shirt his own.
Of course, this never came to pass as Liverpool signed Alisson who has gone on to become one of the greatest goalkeepers in the club’s history.
Ward moved on later that summer and played second fiddle to Kasper Schmeichel for much of his time at Leicester.
Now, at 32 years old, he has the chance for a fresh start in the familiar surroundings of North Wales.
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