Wrexham are edging closer to appointing Newcastle United’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson as their new sporting director, in what would represent a major statement of intent from the Welsh club.

Nickson is expected to depart St James’ Park this summer to take up a newly-created role at the Racecourse, with a move to Wrexham reportedly pencilled in for September.

The recruitment chief, who has also attracted interest from newly-relegated West Ham United, has yet to be officially released by Newcastle, but the Magpies are braced for his exit.

Nickson spent 15 years on Tyneside and was central to some of Newcastle’s most significant transfer business, playing a key role in the £40m signing of Joelinton from Hoffenheim in 2019, the club-record capture of Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon in 2022, and the deal that brought Miguel Almiron to the club, also in 2019.

His work earned praise from both current Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former club director Amanda Staveley, who once described Nickson as “amazing” and pointed to his deep knowledge of the transfer market as instrumental in helping the club move quickly on deals.

Wrexham see the appointment as a next-level addition as they push to close the gap on the Premier League, with Nickson set to work closely alongside manager Phil Parkinson, who has been kept regularly informed of developments in the pursuit.

While his exact remit is still to be finalised, Nickson is expected to have a hand in both transfer strategy and the club’s broader football operations.

The move comes after a remarkable rise for Wrexham, who won three straight promotions under Parkinson between 2023 and 2025.

Last season, in their first second-tier campaign since 1981-82, the Red Dragons finished seventh in the Championship, narrowly missing out on the play-offs on the final day.

Parkinson has taken a 28-man squad to the United States for pre-season, with fixtures against Leeds United, Liverpool and Sunderland to come before a competitive return at Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup first round on Friday, 7 August.

The Championship campaign then gets under way away at Cardiff City on Monday, 17 August.

Wrexham are yet to make a signing this summer, but Parkinson made clear after a 1-0 friendly win over Manchester United in Helsinki that reinforcements are on the way, with the manager identifying gaps in his squad ahead of what he expects to be a “relentless” Championship campaign.

“We feel we’ve got areas in the squad where we’re light in terms of taking on the challenge of the Championship, which is a relentless league,” said Parkinson.

“There’s areas which we feel we need to improve.

“We’ve identified those since the start of summer and we’re working towards that.”

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