Wrexham will undoubtedly be put on red alert following loan star Arthur Okonkwo’s release at Arsenal.
The 22-year-old goalkeeper spent the 2023/24 season with the Welsh outfit, where he expertly filled the void left by Ben Foster.
England youth international Okonkwo quickly established himself as the club’s No1 choice – featuring in 40 games in all competitions.
In total, 36 of his outings came in League Two, where he kept 14 clean sheets to help Wrexham return to League One for the first time since 2005.
But despite his heroics at the Racecourse, he has failed to be offered a contract extension in north London, with Okonkwo one of 22 players named on the Gunners’ release list.
Arsenal‘s loss could be Wrexham’s gain, with the club’s Hollywood co-owner Rob McElhenney a huge fan of the youngster having waxed lyrical over the player during the latest season of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.
Okonkwo was likened to NBA legend Michael Jordan by McElhenny, who explained the concept of loan transfers to the documentary’s American audience.
The ‘Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ actor said: “He’s a Premier League level keeper who just happens to be young and doesn’t have a place on the Arsenal squad yet.
“It would be as if it’s 1985 and the Chicago Bulls drafted Michael Jordan and they are like ‘Well you’re a 20-year-old kid’.
“Then the Philadelphia 76ers were like ‘Hey, guess what Chicago? We will just take him off your hands for like two or three years and then we’ll just build him up because he can start with us and we can send him back to you’.
“Then he comes to Philly, wins like three championships and they’re like ‘Great, we’re gonna start a dynasty’, but then Chicago are like ‘F*** off we’re taking him back’. That’s exactly what it is!”
Meanwhile Okonkwo’s ex-Wrexham teammate Mark Howard labelled him as a ‘cheat code’ having been left blown away by him in training.
Howard, who invited Okonkwo onto his Yours, Mine, Away! Podcast, asked for the player’s height, with the shot-stopper revealing he is 6ft 6in.
To which Howard remarked: “Now, while we’re on this, can we speak about your jump test because you’re a freak mate.
“We were getting you to do this in the gym the other day and it wasn’t fun, you’re a cheat code in yourself mate.”
And McElhenney and fellow co-owner Ryan Reynolds will surely be hoping their great relationship convinces Okonkwo to drop down the football pyramid to continue his development in the game.
Okonkwo told the Mirror: “When we had a third loss in a row, Rob McElhenney called me straight after the game and he just said to me, ‘Keep doing what you are doing, you’ve been excellent for us and I’ve no doubts that you’ll be back to full form.’
“It was so good to get that call, they are so supportive and I was really happy with the way they backed me and helped me. They are very involved, they want the team to win every single week and they let us know that.
“You get text messages, they come to as many games as possible and you don’t get that from all owners.
“They are so passionate about the club and, even though they are so busy, they try to be involved as much as they can. I’m not shocked by how much success Wrexham have had because they are so committed to the project.”