Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City are being picked apart by vultures already, top strikers on Wrexham wishlist

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We already knew Cardiff City were heading for League One, but you can add Plymouth Argyle to that list after a chaotic final day in the Championship.

Cardiff had sealed their fate a week ago, with draws against Oxford United and West Brom not enough to stop the rot and keep the Bluebirds in the second tier.

Sadly, Plymouth were destined to follow whatever happened on the final day, given their horrendous goal difference, and a 2-1 defeat to Leeds United did not help matters.

With the two sides preparing for life in League One, they were always going to be at risk of losing top players, and it’s already been made clear that Wrexham are not about to stand still upon their promotion to the Championship.

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Key players at Plymouth and Cardiff are being targeted

It seems the Red Dragons have already set their stall out when it comes to the kinds of players they are targeting this summer, too, and Plymouth and Cardiff fans will be fearing the worst.

That’s because, according to reporter Darren Witcoop, Wrexham are keen on Ryan Hardie and Callum Robinson.

Witcoop tweeted: “Wrexham will target a striker with proven Championship experience this summer following promotion. Plymouth’s Ryan Hardie and Cardiff’s Callum Robinson among the players on their radar following their club’s relegation.”

Hardie has been in great form for Plymouth despite the club’s struggles this season, with 15 goal contributions (12 goals and three assists) in all competitions.

He was signed by Argyle in 2021 after two loan spells from Blackpool.

Meanwhile, Robinson was arguably the one bright spark in Cardiff’s season, and was even in the conversation for the Championship Golden Boot at one point.

The experienced striker also bagged 12 goals, but outperformed his xG of 7.2 by quite some margin, as well as registering a far higher shots on target percentage (46.6) compared to Hardie (35.2).

It would appear both are destined to stay in the second tier despite their relegations, but whether either of them go to Wrexham remains to be seen.

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Plymouth Argyle can come back strong, but Cardiff should be worried

Plymouth Argyle will likely lose Hardie, while the likes of Mustapha Bundu and Maksym Talovierov will surely attract attention, too.

However, Argyle have been tipped to win promotion from League One at the first time of asking, though a lot depends on how they operate this summer, and keeping Miron Muslic will be key.

Plymouth should be in a relatively stable financial situation, but Cardiff are facing a financial nightmare after being relegated.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
21	Hull CityHull City	46	12	13	21	44	54	-10	49
22	LutonLuton	46	13	10	23	45	69	-24	49
23	PlymouthPlymouth	46	11	13	22	51	88	-37	46
24	CardiffCardiff	46	9	17	20	48	73	-25	44

The club are potentially in crisis behind the scenes, with Aaron Ramsey detailing structural issues and owner Vincent Tan already hitting back at fans who claim he doesn’t care about the club.

The Bluebirds also need to find a new permanent manager. Whether that is Ramsey or not remains to be seen, though there are doubts as to whether the inexperienced young coach has what it takes to take Cardiff back to the Championship next season.