Swansea City poised for Harry Darling exit as Birmingham City & Wrexham plot contract offers | OneFootball

The newly promoted duo are battling to sign centre-back Darling on a free transfer

Newly promoted sides Birmingham City and Wrexham are battling it out for the signature of Swansea City defender Harry Darling.

The centre-back is set to become a free agent this summer, and is sure to have plenty of Championship teams chasing his signature thanks to the form he has showed in South Wales.

However, he has ran his contract down at the Swansea.com Stadium and is set to be highly in-demand, where he can demand a big signing on fee and top Championship wages.

League One promotion winners Birmingham City & Wrexham preparing big contract offers for Harry Darling

According to journalist Alan Nixon, League One's automatically promoted pair are both interested in Darling, and are planning to table substantial contract offers for the 25-year-old.

Given the ambitious ownerships in place at both clubs, it came as no surprise that both Birmingham and Wrexham were promoted back to the Championship this season.

For the Blues, their stay outside the top two tiers of English football has been a brief one, with Chris Davies’ men regaining their Championship status at the first opportunity.

However, for Wrexham, it has been a much longer wait. The Red Dragons will ply their trade in the Championship for the first time in 43 years next season, after a remarkable third successive promotion.

Despite being newcomers to the league next term, it’s highly unlikely that either club will be satisfied with just a season of consolidation.

They both have owners who are committed to lifting the clubs as high up the pyramid as possible and as quickly as possible.

With two of League One’s biggest wage budgets last season, it is expected that they will make significant investments over the summer to make their squads Championship ready.

As Nixon reports, the Blues are preparing to table a lucrative contract offer for Darling, but the North Wales outfit are expected to match them financially.

As a result, the Swansea man’s next move could well come down to which of the two clubs can sell their project the best.

If there is little to choose between the two contract offers, Darling may opt for whichever side he feels has the most potential to progress over the next few years, or where he may get the most game-time.

Harry Darling will be an excellent signing for Birmingham or Wrexham, but he may find more game-time at the latter

While interest from Birmingham and Wrexham will undoubtedly be attractive propositions for Darling, given their recent progress, the centre back could potentially still find himself as a Swansea player next season.

It was recently confirmed by the Swans’ director of football, Richard Montague, that they have made Darling an offer of their own, in a bid to keep one of their star men at the club.

The permanent appointment of Alan Sheehan, who Darling is believed to have a good relationship with, could provide his current club with a crucial edge.

Given his performances since moving to South Wales, it comes as little surprise that there is such demand for the defender’s services.

He has become a hugely reliable figure at the heart of Swansea’s defence and is arguably one of the better centre backs in the division.

From Birmingham’s perspective, he could be an excellent option to partner Christoph Klarer next season, who has been very impressive since his £3.5m move from Darmstadt last summer, but there is also the incoming of Phil Neumann from Hannover to consider this summer, as well as Ben Davies potentially coming in permanently from Rangers if City go down that route.

For Wrexham, Darling would add vital know-how to a backline that has been resolute over the last couple of seasons, but lacks second-tier experience at present, and you'd imagine he would be a guaranteed starter at the Racecourse Ground.

While Swansea could potentially keep hold of their key man, if Darling opts not to accept the club’s offer of a new contract, then there will surely be even more Championship clubs who begin to take an interest in him.