Wrexham confirm ex-Premier League star as 'guest player' for pre-season

Wrexham have confirmed that a former Premier League star will join them for a pre-season competition this summer.

Wrexham are currently basking in the glow of a second successive promotion, meaning next season they will play in League One after a 19-year absence.

Before the players take a well earned break, club owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny have treated their stars to an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas.

Ahead of the new season, some of them will be back in the United States for a pre-season tournament, and will be joined by an Ex-Premier League star.

Wrexham will enter a team in the 2024 TST 7-a-side tournament in Cary, North Carolina, under the name Wrexham Red Dragons.

After a successful inaugural edition in 2023 - which saw Wrexham win all three group games before bowing out in the knockout stages - the competition has been expanded to 48 teams, with the winner receiving a $1 million prize.

Wrexham have confirmed 12 of the players who will represent them in June, including some former Premier League names.

Striker George Boyd - who on Saturday won promotion to the eighth tier of English football with Wythenshawe Town - will return after taking part last season.

Earlier in his career the 38-year-old played in the top flight with Hull City and Burnley.

George Boyd during his Burnley days. (Getty)

He'll be joined by Roger Espinoza, who won the FA Cup with Wigan Athletic in 2013 before making more than 200 MLS appearances with Sporting Kansas City.

Attacker Gary Hooper, formerly of Celtic, Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday, will also represent the Red Dragons.

The other confirmed players include Wrexham first-team coach David Jones – who will again be player-manager – veteran goalkeeper Mark Howard and young defender Scott Butler.

Kettering Town midfielder Dan Jarvis will feature again, after he scored two hat-tricks in last year's tournament.

Wrexham first-team pros Aaron James and Jake Bickerstaff will make their TST debuts.

Wrexham's squad list for the tournament so far is as follows:

Mark Howard, Liam Hall, Scott Butler, Aaron James, David Jones, Callum Edwards, Roger Espinoza, Harry Ashfield, Dan Jarvis, George Boyd, Jake Bickerstaff, Gary Hooper.

Topics: Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, League One, League Two, Football

Alex Brotherton

Alex Brotherton is a journalist at SPORTbible. He has previously worked with publications including the Manchester Evening News, GOAL and BBC Sport. He is a football fanatic, but also dabbles in tennis and American football. He can often be found watching dreadful non-league football.

@alex_brotherton