Wrexham Set for Double Defensive Signing: Kabore and Ekomie Join
Wrexham are closing in on a double defensive swoop, with Issa Kabore set to join permanently from Manchester City and left-back Jacques Ekomie poised to arrive from Angers.
Kabore, a standout performer on loan last season, looks finally ready to cut ties with City after seven temporary moves away from the Etihad Stadium. The deal is understood to be worth up to £4.75m, with City inserting a 20% sell-on clause and retaining matching rights on any future offer.
For Wrexham, it’s a statement move.
The Burkina Faso international played 32 times in all competitions for the Red Dragons in 2025-26 and became a key part of Phil Parkinson’s system. Operating as a right wing-back, he delivered eight assists in the Championship – more than any other Wrexham player.
He hit the ground running. On his debut at Carrow Road, Kabore produced two assists in a 3-2 win over Norwich City, immediately announcing himself as a weapon down the flank. From there, he barely left the side until a hamstring injury, picked up on international duty in November, stalled his momentum.
The setback didn’t define his season.
Kabore returned to action with Burkina Faso at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, then slotted back into Parkinson’s line-up for the run-in, again featuring prominently as Wrexham pushed through the second half of the campaign.
His journey to north Wales has been long and winding. City signed him from Mechelen in 2020 and immediately sent him back to the Belgian club on loan. Spells with Troyes, Marseille, Luton Town, Benfica and Werder Bremen followed, before Wrexham secured him on transfer deadline day last September.
Despite all that travelling, he never made a senior appearance for Manchester City. Wrexham now look ready to offer him a permanent home – and a central role.
On the opposite flank, Ekomie is being lined up to strengthen the left side. The Gabon international has entered the final year of his contract with Angers and had drawn interest from Championship rivals West Ham United and German side Hamburg. Wrexham have moved quickly to get ahead of that competition.
Parkinson has needed cover there.
Liberato Cacace arrived from Empoli in the summer of 2025 with high expectations, but injuries have repeatedly disrupted his progress in north Wales. Ekomie’s arrival would ease that burden and give Wrexham a more robust set of options on the left.
If both deals go through as expected, Kabore and Ekomie will join a growing list of summer recruits at the Racecourse Ground. Full-back Danny Imray, goalkeeper Anthony Patterson and midfielder Ben Whiteman have already been added to a squad being quietly but decisively rebuilt.
Kabore, now 25 and already capped 55 times by Burkina Faso, appears ready to anchor that evolution from the right. After years of being loaned out, he is finally on the verge of belonging somewhere. The question now is how far this reshaped Wrexham side can go with him driving them on from the flanks.
