Wrexham are eyeing a move for Rennes midfielder Jordan James, a Wales international who has been tipped to follow his old team-mate Jude Bellingham’s remarkable rise to the top level
Wrexham look set to sign a star who has been tipped to follow in Jude Bellingham’s footsteps. The Red Dragons have been linked with a move for Welsh international Jordan James after experiencing a tough start to their Championship campaign.
The 21-year-old midfielder currently plays for French side Rennes, who he joined from Birmingham City last summer for £4million. Serie A outfit Parma and second-tier rivals Ipswich Town are also understood to be interested in James.
However, The Sun reports that Wrexham, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, are prepared to outspend them to secure his services. The Hereford-born player was previously backed by former Wales manager Rob Page to emulate his ex-Birmingham team-mate Bellingham by “going to the top” level of football.
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According to The Guardian, Page hailed James for his talent after he made his competitive Wales debut at the age of 19 in a 2-0 win over Latvia in September 2023.
“I hope everybody’s talking about JJ’s performance,” he said. “Every time he has stepped up with us he has trained with personality and that is what I ask all the young players to do: make an impression, and he did from day one, just in his body language, how he is around the place, the way he trains.
“He reads the game well, he’s athletic, he likes a tackle, he can pass the ball, he can head it … he ticks a lot of boxes; he has got everything. He is a great lad and he wants to work hard. He has got potential and we’re going to help him achieve that.”
England icon Bellingham has enjoyed a meteoric rise since starting his career with Birmingham, before making the switch to Borussia Dortmund as a teenager. The midfielder is now starring in La Liga with Real Madrid.
Comparisons between Bellingham and James were inevitable, given they played together in various age groups at Birmingham as youngsters, despite the latter being a year younger. James was previously quizzed over whether he always thought Bellingham was destined to make it big during an interview with The Independent.
He said: “You knew from an early age. He was a level above everyone else. He was the main guy and it was the same at the World Cup, he was the best player for me.
“When I joined at eight years old, I used to go up and play with him, and you could see the way he dribbles and how technically gifted he was.
“He wasn’t a big grower like me either. It was just before he turned 15 that he had his growth spurt, and now he’s turned into a man. That’s what helped him a lot.”
Despite the parallels, James believes he has his own distinct skillset, adding: “We’ve got different attributes, it’s hard to compare myself to someone who’s at the top already and that’s where I’m trying to get to. But we’ve been brought up the same way, in the same club, with the same philosophies, so hopefully I can reach that height.”
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James might not have reached the same heights as Bellingham yet, but he already has 20 Wales caps to his name and featured 25 times for Rennes last season. He also made 105 first-team outings for Birmingham after emerging through the club’s academy, before leaving following their relegation to League One in 2024.
His previous Championship experience is one of the main assets he would bring to Wrexham. The Welsh outfit have registered only one point from their opening three games in the second tier after drawing at home against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.
The meagre return comes despite manager Phil Parkinson making ten new signings this summer at a cost of more than £20m. If James does join Wrexham, he will be greeted by three more Wales internationals after Nathan Broadhead, Kieffer Moore and Danny Ward made the move earlier in the transfer window.
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