Fresh twist in Wrexham summer interest in huge Portsmouth favourite Terry Devlin
Pompey rejected a £2m bid from Wrexham for Terry Devlin during the January transfer window.
Wrexham appear to have turned their transfer attention away from Pompey’s Terry Devlin.
The Telegraph’s Mike McGrath has revealed the Red Dragons are ‘closing in’ on a multi-million pound move for Crystal Palace’s Danny Imray.
The report claims Phil Parkinson’s side have agreed a £5m deal with the Premier League side for the right-back, who has had strong interest from the Championship this summer.
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Wrexham close in on £5m Crystal Palace right-back
Despite initial plans to keep hold of the 23-year-old earlier in the window, the Eagles are now set to sanction a move to the Racecourse Ground for Imray, who is expected to undergo a medical this week.
The defender spent the second half of the campaign on loan at the Hawthorns, where he amassed 20 league appearances following his January switch.
A big-money move for Imray now appears to have pulled the plug on any potential swoop for Devlin by Wrexham this summer.
The Red Dragons, of course, had a £2m bid rejected by Pompey for the Northern Irishman’s services in January as Parkinson attempted to strengthen at right-back.
Terry Devlin’s Pompey future amid potential summer interest
Devlin’s stock remains high after an outstanding campaign at Fratton Park last term.
The 22-year-old established himself as first-choice right-back under Mousinho in the Championship last term, with his efforts earning him clean sweep in the club’s end-of-season awards.
Although interest is expected in the highly-rated defender during the window, it would take a sizable offer for Pompey to part company with the huge fan favourite, who is under contract until 2028.
The head coach told The News in July: ‘I would be surprised if there’s no interest in Terry, but you never know. Nothing has panned out at the moment, although it is still very, very early.
‘He had such a good season, turned himself into a starter for Northern Ireland, scored goals from that position, swept up with the end-of-season awards and was fully, fully deserving. I thought there would be a bit of external interest.
‘There's no pressure on us to sell, we don’t need to sell. When those sorts of questions come up there are a lot of factors, but mainly it’s about what the player wants to do.
‘Terry is really happy here, Terry is fully committed, we’ve said let's just stay open and honest about what happens elsewhere. We have seen in the past that, if a player really wants to go, it’s very difficult to keep him should the offer be there and the offer is right.
‘At absolutely no point of my time at this football club have we received an offer and the board have said we must sell the player for financial reasons. That won’t happen with Terry.
‘It will be more about what Terry wants to do and then, at that point, we will make that decision based on what we think is financially sensible for the football club. We won't be strong-armed into anything.
‘It’s very, very similar to what happened in January with Callum Lang. We were satisfied as a football club that we got the right price for the player and the player wanted to go - so we made the decision collectively.
‘I think Terry deserves the praise, he deserves the limelight - and it’s just about having an honest conversation with him.
‘Maybe for our valuation of the player there might be a limited number of clubs who want to spend that on a right-back - and we’re not going to shift from what we think Terry is worth’.