Coventry City have been credited with an interest in free agent Tom Lawrence, after he left SPL runners up Rangers at the end of last season.
Lawrence, 31, has spent the last three seasons in Glasgow, playing under the likes of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Michael Beale and, more recently, Philippe Clement. He started only 15 of his 28 appearances in all competitions last season, however, after struggling with injuries.
Departing Ibrox, it’s expected that Welsh international Lawrence will return to English football, and he has been linked with moves already to the Sky Blues, West Bromwich Albion and newly promoted Wrexham, the town of Lawrence’s birth.
The attacking midfielder is well known to City boss Frank Lampard, who worked with Lawrence previously during their season together at Derby County in 2018-19; indeed he scored a late winner in Lampard’s very first game in management, a 2-1 victory at Reading on the opening game of that aforementioned season.
“If I ever need anything, he’s always there,” Lawrence said of Lampard in 2019, when speaking about the loss of his mother and how his former boss helped him through a difficult time. “He was great with me with things that have happened in my personal life at the back end of last year.”
Lawrence, who played 39 times in that campaign at Pride Park and contributed 12 goals and assists as the Rams reached the Championship play-off final, has also supposedly got interest from Europe, with former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer eager for a reunion at Besiktas in Turkiye.
Team Talk add thatWrexham have added Lawrence to their wishlist this summer after they made a long-awaited return to the second tier at the back end of last season. They are also keen on the experienced Barry Bannan, who has spent the last ten years at Sheffield Wednesday and made almost 450 appearances for the Owls.
City at the end of the season, meanwhile, bid farewell to another free agent in Jamie Paterson, who completed a move to League One side Plymouth Argyle after his short-term deal at the CBS Arena expired. They did, though, take up the option to retain the services of midfielder Jamie Allen for another year. City signed Matt Grimes from Swansea in January.
