Winners and losers from a Ryan Hardie transfer to Wrexham as Plymouth Argyle poised to lose 12-goal star

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Wrexham are set to make Plymouth Argyle ace Ryan Hardie their first permanent summer signing ahead of the 2025/26 Championship.

As the summer transfer window is close to reopening, the anticipation among the Wrexham faithful will be brewing, with recruits poised to join the club.

Last season, Wrexham made history with their successive promotions, and now they are targeting an instant jump to the top flight in the 2025/26 Championship.

The Red Dragons have been linked with several targets, namely Wrexham’s pursuit of Blackburn Rovers captain Lewis Travis, and are also eyeing “exceptional” Joe Gelhardt from Leeds United.

Wrexham are also now poised to complete the signing of Plymouth Argyle forward Ryan Hardie this summer. EFL Analysis has taken a look at the winners and losers involved in the imminent transfer.

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Winners from a Ryan Hardie transfer to Wrexham from Plymouth Argyle

Phil Parkinson

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson is the obvious winner from Hardie’s impending switch from Home Park to the Stok Racecourse ground.

Parkinson has been at the helm in Wrexham’s remarkable rise, but the step up in quality in the Championship will be his hardest task yet in the Red Dragons dugout, which will be made more manageable by the arrival of Hardie.

Adding a forward of Hardie’s quality into the Wrexham ranks will only help Parkinson achieve co-owner Ryan Reynolds’ dream of Premier League promotion.

Ryan Hardie

Aside from Parkinson, another obvious winner has to be the player himself, given Plymouth’s relegation to League One this season.

Hardie performed admirably for Argyle, scoring 12 goals last term, but could not help Plymouth dodge demotion to the third tier of English football.

The Wrexham transfer will grant the Scottish striker another campaign in the Championship, as Hardie hopes to add to his 22 second tier goal tally.

Sam Smith

One EFL expert believes Wrexham will make a “very smart” signing with Hardie, and Ali Maxwell has also outlined that the forward’s arrival can benefit current Wrexham striker Sam Smith.

Maxwell told DragonSports: “It looks like Ryan Hardie is on his way to Wrexham, and here’s why I think this is a very smart addition to Phil Parkinson’s squad.

“As a counter-attacking striker, he’s a really, really good player at this level. And I think he will complement either Sam Smith or another striker, more of a physical target man type, really nicely.”

Smith scored seven goals in 19 appearances for Wrexham since his £2 million move from Reading, and will be pleased by Hardie’s arrival as this offers him a teammate to link up with in attack effectively.

Two losers from a Ryan Hardie transfer to Wrexham

Plymouth Argyle

The obvious losers with Hardie’s imminent transfer is Plymouth, as the Scotsman ends his five-year association with Argyle.

Hardie arrived initially on loan from Blackpool in January 2020, firing seven goals in 13 League Two appearances to help fire Argyle to the third tier, before making his loan switch permanent the following summer.

Across his Plymouth career, Hardie has scored 74 times and assisted 23 goals in 248 appearances and has been pivotal in the club’s rise from League Two to reaching the Championship.

His presence will be sorely felt next season by the club, it’s supporters, as well as newly-appointed manager Tom Cleverley.

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Tom Cleverley

Cleverley was chosen as Miron Muslic’s replacement this week, and he will begin his next chapter in management at Home Park in 25/26.

Muslic was tipped to take Plymouth back to the Championship, but has since departed Argyle for Germany, which has seen the Argyle chairman slam Muslic’s conduct amid his FC Schalke switch.

With Hardie’s imminent switch coinciding with Cleverley’s appointment, the former Watford boss will not get the chance to utilise the forward in his first season in the Argyle hotseat.

Considering Hardie was Argyle’s top goalscorer last term, with 12 goals, his absence will be a big miss for Cleverley as he plots promotion from League One in his first year as Plymouth boss.