"Outrageous" - Wrexham AFC's £50k-a-week Fulham transfer swoop questioned | OneFootball

FLW's Wrexham fan pundit has given his reaction to reports that the club are preparing to offer Fulham captain Tom Cairney a £50k-a-week contract.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Wrexham are preparing for life in the Championship after winning promotion from League One.

As their remarkable rise up the leagues continues, Wrexham achieved a historic third consecutive promotion this season as they finished as runners-up in League One behind champions Birmingham City.

The Red Dragons will return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1982 next season, but owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will not want to simply make up the numbers, and it has been claimed that the Welsh outfit will be one of the biggest spenders outside the Premier League this summer.

The summer transfer window may not be open just yet, but we are already getting an indication of Wrexham's ambitions, with talkSPORT claiming that the club are preparing to offer a staggering £50,000-per-week contract to Fulham captain Tom Cairney, who is expected to leave Craven Cottage when his deal expires next month.

Should Cairney accept those terms and make the move to the SToK Cae Ras, his current £30,000-per-week salary with the Cottagers would almost be doubled, and he would become the Red Dragons' bigger earner by quite some distance, with striker Jay Rodriguez estimated to be the club's existing highest-paid player on just £15,000-per-week.

Wrexham reaction given to bold Tom Cairney contract claims

When asked for his thoughts on the potential signing of Cairney, FLW's Wrexham fan pundit Liam Grice said the midfielder would be an excellent addition for the Red Dragons given his previous Championship promotion experience, but he questioned whether the club would be prepared to break their wage structure for a 34-year-old.

"Tom Cairney on a free would be a very good piece of business for us," Liam said.

"Phil Parkinson has surrounded himself with good, experienced players during his tenure at Wrexham through the lower leagues, and Cairney would just add the little bit of quality that we were maybe missing in the final third last year.

"He's a real conductor with international experience and was the captain at Fulham, and he's been really good at this level before.

"Obviously he's a bit older now than when he last played here, but he's played 27 games for Fulham this season, so if we can get him on a free, I don't think we should really turn our noses up at that.

"His wages will be a lot, but that's something we're going to have to get used to going into the Championship now, we will be paying players £25,000 to £30,000 per week.

"It seems weird, but if Wrexham want to be successful, then that's what we have to do, and Cairney is quite a good place to start I think.

"I can't imagine us breaking our contract structure that much for a 34-year-old, I know he has Premier League experience and he's won this division with Fulham before, so he would add valuable experience, but it's a bit outrageous to claim that Wrexham would be willing to spend £50,000 on wages.

"I get that they have to sell the project to him and money goes a long way, but I can't see Ryan, Rob and the ownership group being willing to spend that much so soon on a player, I think they will gradually build up to that.

"£50,000 seems like a lot of money to me personally, but we do need to spend money, so I guess we'll see."

Reynolds and McElhenney have made no secret of their desire to lead Wrexham to the Premier League one day, and the signing of a player like Cairney, who has won three promotions from the Championship with Fulham, would be a big statement of intent.

Cairney may not have started as regularly as he would have liked this season, but he has still made 27 appearances in all competitions for the Cottagers, and he would be more than capable of making an impact at second tier level, despite entering the latter stages of his career.

Given that they were in the National League just two years ago, supporters may feel uneasy about the fact that the Red Dragons are willing to pay £50,000-per-week in wages, but as the profile of the club continues to grow and they look to attract higher-profile players, those kinds of salaries may soon become the norm at the SToK Cae Ras.