Is there a chance we’ll see Ben Davies on FX next season? According to a new report from Football Insider, there’s a chance that might just happen. The report states that Wrexham, notably owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney and who just successfully promoted for the third straight year, are in talks to sign Davies this summer on a free transfer.
OK, so let’s talk about a couple of things. First, Football Insider is, uhhhhhhhhhhh, not typically a source we rely upon for accurate rumors. That said, in a vacuum this deal might make a weird sort of sense. Wrexham are now in the Championship and need a serious upgrade in talent in order to stay there. In past seasons, the owners have done this by signing older, experienced professionals like Jay Rodriguez, Steven Fletcher, and James Maclean who are near the ends of their careers and don’t mind dropping down a level or two as their bodies start to break down. Davies would certainly fit that model, and he’s Welsh so it would be a kind of homecoming for him (even though he’s a Swansea lad).
But Wrexham signing Davies on a free transfer would seem to contradict news from earlier this season. Jack Pitt-Brooke wrote back in November that Spurs were planning on exercising a one-year extension in Davies’ contract, something that Daniel Levy loves to tack on in contract extension negotiations, and that would keep Davies at Spurs through 2025-26. We don’t actually know whether the club exercised that option or not, and Spurs typically doesn’t announce when they do, they just brief the media like they did back in November. The Football Insider article seems to suggest they have not.
So what gives? There are a couple of possibilities.
The Wrexham story is bullshit
Spurs didn’t actually exercise Davies’ contract extension, either because they decided not to or Davies requested that they not, and they agreed to that request
Spurs DID exercise the contract extension and are either willing to let Davies out of his deal, or receive a small transfer fee from Wrexham to send him there.
It’s an interesting thought experiment, for sure, and it’s clear even if he wants to stay at Spurs for another year that he won’t have his contract renewed past 2025-26. Wrexham, meanwhile, are Wrexham — the Welsh celebrity club with its own TV show. Davies would be a pretty big get for them, even if he’s a little past his prime and slightly gone to seed. But it’s also clear that Davies won’t be short of options; Leeds is another possible destination, as is just staying at Tottenham and retiring a legend. That said, if Wrexham is where he wants to go, then I’d guess the club would be amenable to making it happen. Plus we’d get to see him possibly hugging Ryan Reynolds on the telly next year.
But let’s wait for some more reliable sourcing, first.