Leicester City have reportedly made an offer to Wrexham for goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo as the Foxes prepare for life in League One.
The King Power Stadium side this week confirmed the appointment of Russell Martin as their new manager on a three-year contract.
After back-to-back relegations, the Foxes are set to start next season in England's third tier for the first time since 2008-09 and are 11/4 to win the League One title and 4/5 to secure promotion.
Okonkwo was Wrexham's first-choice goalkeeper for much of last season, but Red Dragons boss Phil Parkinson dropped him in the final weeks of the season as the Welshmen missed out on a place in the Championship play-offs.
Rising with the Red Dragons
London-born Okonkwo was part of Arsenal's academy and was capped by England at various underage levels.
He had loan spells at Crewe Alexandra and Sturm Graz before an initial short-term stint at Wrexham began in September 2023 after Ben Foster retired.
The Dragons were in League Two and Okonkwo played his part in their promotion with 16 clean sheets across all competitions.
His contract with the Gunners expired in the summer of 2024 and Wrexham offered him a three-year deal to return to the Racecourse Ground.
He was between the posts for 33 games as Wrexham finished second behind runaway League One winners Birmingham City.
The Premier League dream of owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney was now within sight and Okonkwo started 39 Championship games last season, with nine clean sheets, as Wrexham got themselves into the play-off mix.
He played a starring role, too, in the FA Cup win over Premier League side Nottingham Forest, saving two penalties in a shootout success.
A run of one win in five games from mid-March, where Okonkwo conceded 13 goals, prompted Parkinson to bring in Joel Ward between the posts for the Dragons' final four games.
They lost just once, against champions Coventry City, and achieved two shutouts, but it wasn't enough as they finished seventh and missed out on the play-offs by two points.
Uncertain times for Okonkwo
Okonkwo now has just a year remaining on his deal at Wrexham and the Reds have been linked with Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, while Wales international Ward ended the season in front of Okonkwo.
Ward had started the campaign as first choice, but fractured his elbow in the closing stages of August's 2-0 win at Millwall, allowing Okonkwo his chance.
It remains to be seen if Okonkwo can regain the confidence of Parkinson and, alongside Leicester's mooted interest, Bristol City, Watford, and Derby County are also said to have expressed interest in the shot-stopper.
"Arthur came in and produced so many moments to win us points, but I felt the time was right to take him out of the team," Parkinson told the press in April after dropping his goalkeeper. "He has played a lot of minutes in a new division."
Leicester looking for reinforcements
Jakub Stolarczyk was the man in possession of the gloves for Leicester for much of last season. The 25-year-old Pole managed six clean sheets in 36 outings.
Veteran Asmir Begovic, 39, and Spaniard Fran Vieites - signed last summer as a free agent - also made contributions.
New boss Martin is seemingly interested in recruiting Okonkwo, who has already demonstrated his ability to win promotion from England's lower tiers.
With nine clean sheets in 39 Championship appearances for a Wrexham side who finished the season conceding 65 goals in 46 games, the twice-capped Nigeria international could fit the bill.
Okonkwo had his international allegiance switch from England to Nigeria accepted by FIFA earlier this year and represented the Super Eagles at the Unity Cup in London where he kept back-to-back clean sheets against Zimbabwe and declared his "biggest dream would be helping this country win AFCON".
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
