Wrexham won’t appeal against Luke Armstrong transfer decision
WREXHAM have abandoned their bid to sign former Middlesbrough and Hartlepool United striker Luke Armstrong after the EFL rejected the move and apologised to the player and his club for not completing the transfer.
The Sky Bet League Two club, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, agreed terms with the 27-year-old Harrogate frontman on deadline day, with paperwork submitted for his signing.
However, the EFL stated relevant documentation was not submitted on time.
Wrexham responded to that statement by announcing they were “actively collating all the relevant information regarding a potential appeal against the decision”, but Armstrong will now stay in North Yorkshire.
Wrexham’s statement read: “Having reviewed the additional information received from the EFL and considered this in the context of the submission of the documents for the transfer of Luke Armstrong from Harrogate Town, the club have determined there is no reasonable chance of success if we were to appeal the EFL’s decision to reject the transfer.
“Now this decision has been made, we wish to apologise to Luke as we were unable to complete the transfer by the deadline and Harrogate Town, who we are sure will be as disappointed as we are that the transfer will not now be completed in this window.
“The club will be reviewing the circumstances and processes that have led to this outcome with all the relevant parties.”
Armstrong, the son of Alun – who was sacked as Darlington manager on Wednesday morning – started his career with Middlesbrough as a youngster before being released in 2014. After impressing in the non-league ranks, he returned to Boro and had loan spells at Gateshead and Accrington Stanley before joining Salford.
He enjoyed a hugely successful loan spell at Pools, scoring 15 times in 31 appearances in the promotion-winning 2020/21 campaign, before Harrogate swooped to sign him.
He scored 16 goals for Harrogate last season and has one so far this term.
