Wrexham AFC will have Jay Rodriguez fear after Burnley deal - it could mirror Liverpool icon’s flop | OneFootball

Wrexham fans fear that new signing Jay Rodriguez might mirror the failed move Ian Rush made.

The Wrexham faithful will have fears that Jay Rodriguez's move to the Reds might end up like Liverpool icon Ian Rush's failed transfer in 1998.

During the recent January transfer window, Wrexham signed the high-profile Premier League veteran striker from Burnley for an undisclosed fee. He's signed an 18-month contract for a reported £15k per week, according to Mike McGrath from the Daily Telegraph.

Despite arriving at the Racecourse Ground with a solid career behind him, including spells at Burnley, Southampton and West Brom, where he's scored 154 career goals across 562 appearances in England's top two divisions, it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows since stepping back into League One.

A slow start for Rodriguez at Wrexham

Since joining Wrexham at the end of the transfer window from Burnley, Rodriguez has been an ever-present member of the starting 11 in the league. However, his performances so far haven't justified a consistent inclusion.

He hasn't exactly set the world alight in North Wales so far. We can give him the benefit of the doubt because it's so early on in his Wrexham career, but football fans aren't exactly known to be patient, especially when a player comes to the third tier with 48 goals in 258 games during his long career in the Premier League.

What's going to worry Wrexham fans is that they've seen a successful top flight striker fail at the Racecourse Ground before.

Liverpool icon fails to make an impact in Wrexham

Ian Rush at Liverpool

In 1998, Wrexham signed the legendary striker Ian Rush from Newcastle United while they were in the old Division Two.

When Rush signed on that dotted line, Wrexham fans were buzzing, and rightly so. Despite the Welsh forward being 37, he still came with a stellar reputation from Liverpool, Juventus and the Welsh national side.

However, having only scored five goals across 55 appearances in his spells at Leeds United and Newcastle prior to his arrival at Wrexham, a decline was evident. Still, stepping back to a lower level should have been manageable, and Wrexham fans still thought they had plenty to look forward to.

He joined the Red Dragons as a Liverpool icon and their record goalscorer with 346 goals in 660 appearances on Merseyside.

Alongside a quite ridiculous personal goal record, he also came to Wrexham with a trophy cabinet to match.

Despite that stellar career, Wrexham never saw any performances that resembled these past achievements during Rush's single season in North Wales. There were no goals and no assists in 22 appearances, and the one-time elite striker even regressed into midfield.

Rush really showed his age during his singular season at Wrexham, failing to make any real impact on-field for the club as they finished 17th in Division Two - he did though, have an impact on the development of Andy Morrell. He left on another free transfer to Australian side Sydney Olympic for a season and then eventually retired.

Rodriguez still has time to prove his worth to Wrexham

The Rodriguez and Rush comparison is a legitimate one, despite the former not hitting the heights the latter did in his top-level career. He's a high-profile League One signing, and it's remarkable that Wrexham are shopping at this level so soon after promotion from the National League.

Rodriguez's saving grace is that he has time to re-write what's happening right now and can put right a tough start.

With tough fixtures against Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town and Reading over the coming weeks, Rodriguez certainly has the chance to make an impact in one of these important games if manager Phil Parkinson continues to start him ahead of Paul Mullin and Jack Marriott. His experience could be massive in what's sure to be a high-pressure environment.

The Reds currently sit third in League One, trailing Wycombe Wanderers, who are currently sitting in the second and final automatic promotion spot, by three points.

With 14 games to go in this League One campaign, Wrexham need a hero if they are to pip the Chairboys to that second spot and secure a third promotion in a row. Equally, they would need a hero in the play-offs if the top two is a bridge too far.

That hero could very well be Rodriguez. It might only take one important goal or the impact that gets Wrexham over the line.

If Rodriguez proves to be that man, he will be remembered forever for all the right reasons and not in the same way as Rush is at Wrexham.