Rangers Pursue Josh Windass Again as Wrexham Stands Firm

Rangers have come again for Josh Windass. Same player, new landscape.

According to talkSPORT, the Ibrox club have formalised their interest in the Wrexham forward ahead of the summer window, marking a third attempt to bring him back to Glasgow. He knows the place, and they know him: 73 appearances between 2016 and 2018, flashes of quality, unfinished business.

This time, the pursuit has a very different architect. Danny Rohl is driving it, the Rangers manager pushing hard for a player he trusts. At Sheffield Wednesday, Rohl watched Windass turn into a ruthless operator, scoring 50 goals under his watch and growing into the kind of forward who can carry a promotion charge. Rohl wants that same edge in a Rangers side that has lost its way.

Rangers’ rebuild and a familiar face

A third-place finish in the Scottish Premiership, behind Celtic and Hearts, has forced a reset at Ibrox. The attack is at the heart of it. Goals, creativity, personality – Rangers need all of it, and quickly.

Windass sits high on that list, but he is not the only target. The club are already in advanced talks to sign Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland, a proven domestic finisher and the kind of penalty-box presence supporters have demanded. The plan is clear: strip the forward line back and rebuild it with players who can decide tight games.

Windass offers something different to Shankland. He can drop off, run beyond, link play, and strike from distance. For Rohl, who has already built one attack around him, the temptation is obvious.

The problem? Wrexham have no intention of rolling over.

Wrexham’s prize asset, and a contract that bites

Windass is not just another name on a teamsheet in north Wales. He is the newly crowned Wrexham Player of the Season, the face of a side that came agonisingly close to the Championship play-offs and believe they can go one better next year.

His numbers back that up. Sixteen Championship goals – a club record for a single season – and five assists across 41 league games. Big moments, big contributions, and a level of consistency that has turned him into a cornerstone of the Hollywood-backed project at the Racecourse Ground.

Crucially, he is tied down. Windass signed a three-year deal last summer, keeping him under contract until 2028. That gives Wrexham enormous leverage. They already rejected a formal approach from Rangers in January and, with the player locked in for four more years, there is no pressure to cash in.

Windass himself has hardly been fluttering his eyelashes at the exit door. Speaking to talkSPORT earlier this month about his future, he said: “Yeah, I signed a three-year deal in the summer. I feel like I had a really good year this year, and yeah, hopefully next year we can go one better.” It was the kind of line that plays well in the stands and in the boardroom.

For now, transfer specialist Ben Jacobs reports that formal club-to-club negotiations have not yet started. Interest, calls, positioning – yes. A live deal on the table – not yet.

Stalemate or breakthrough?

This is where it gets interesting. Rangers are under pressure to deliver a statement summer after finishing behind Hearts. Wrexham are under pressure of a different kind: to show that their rise is not a novelty, but a serious long-term climb.

Selling their best player for anything less than a premium fee cuts against that message. Letting him go at all would demand a compelling offer and a plan to replace not just his goals, but his influence.

Rangers, meanwhile, cannot afford another misstep in the market. Miss out on Shankland, fail to land Windass, and the mood around Ibrox will darken quickly. Land both, and Rohl suddenly has the spine of a new attack.

For now, it is a familiar tug-of-war. A manager who trusts a player and wants him back. A club that has already seen him leave once and believes he can lead a new era. And a rising force in Wrexham determined that this time, the story does not end with their star man walking out the door.

One question hangs over the whole saga: who blinks first – the club that needs a revival, or the club that refuses to interrupt its rise?