A free agent midfielder, who started his career with Man United and also starred for Rangers, is reportedly keen on joining hometown club Wrexham despite interest from abroad
The Manchester United under-18s squad
Tom Lawrence (back row, second from left) learnt from Sir Alex Ferguson at Man Utd and has been linked with Wrexham
(Image: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
A free agent who worked under Sir Alex Ferguson and Ryan Giggs at Manchester United is reported to be keen on a move to Wrexham.
Wales international Tom Lawrence is currently without a club after his contract with Scottish side Rangers expired at the end of last season. The attacking midfielder, who was born in Wrexham, suffered from a series of injuries after arriving at Ibrox from Derby County in 2022.
The 31-year-old managed to make 65 appearances and scored 11 goals during his three years in Glasgow and is now looking for a new club. Wrexham, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are among those claimed to be pursuing his services, according to the Mail.
Lawrence is also said to have received interest from the Middle East and Turkey, but is understood to find the idea of signing for his hometown club appealing. The Red Dragons, who sealed promotion from League One to the Championship in April, have already brought in one homegrown talent during the summer transfer window.
The North Wales side announced the arrival of goalkeeper Danny Ward on Tuesday on a two-year deal after he was released by Leicester City. If they were to secure Lawrence's signature, Wrexham would be getting a player who learned from the best during his time at Manchester United.
He joined the Premier League giants at the age of seven and was able to draw on the knowledge of club legends like Sir Alex Ferguson, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Lawrence explained the grounding it gave him in an interview last year.
Manchester United player-manager Ryan Giggs comes on as a substitute for Tom Lawrence
Tom Lawrence, who could be on his way to Wrexham, says he's forever grateful to Ryan Giggs for giving him his Man Utd debut
"I was at United from the age of seven until I was 20," he told The Sun. "So the amount of figures that helped me out along the way, I couldn't name them all.
"What I will say is that you looked up to those who were in the first team at the time, the likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Coaching-wise Paul McGuinness and Warren Joyce helped me massively.
"I am really thankful to them all. There were role models everywhere. It was just all about standards, it makes you have those standards from such a young age."
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He added: "Sir Alex Ferguson was one for big standards and you couldn't mess up. That grounding never leaves you. When you grow up hearing that you just get used to doing the same high level standard stuff every day. It's instilled in you."
Despite his long stint with United, Lawrence only made on senior appearance for the club in May 2014 in a game against Hull. Giggs was United's player-manager at the time as Lawrence featured for the majority of the game.
Giggs then subbed himself on for Lawrence with 20 minutes left in what turned out to be his last-ever game for United.
Lawrence said: "He was a big hero growing up, there were a few of them. But he gave me my Manchester United debut so I'll be forever grateful. Nothing will ever come close to that.
"I had been out on loan and got recalled. I played a game at Anfield for the under-21s and I played well. The first team played a few days later and I got a call to say I was in the squad.
"We went to the hotel and later that day he told me I was starting. I went back to my room and told my family and they all came up."