Wanderers have landed another key target on the eve of the new season with the capture of proven Championship striker Ryan Hardie.
Hardie has joined the Whites on a season-long loan from Wrexham to become Wanderers’ seventh new recruit of the summer transfer window and provide vital extra forward power and experience to Steven Schumacher’s squad.
The move also sees the former Plymouth Argyle frontman re-unite with ex-Pilgrims’ boss Schumacher ahead of Wanderers’ opening Championship fixture at home to Preston North End on Saturday.
Hardie, 29, shared a promotion triumph as League One title winners with Schumacher in 2023 – after also going up from League Two two years previously when Schumacher was assistant manager at Home Park.
Top scorer in Argyle’s title success, Hardie then twice hit double figures at Championship level for the Devon club and is looking forward to resuming the partnership with the Wanderers’ Head Coach.
“It’s a massive factor. I can't beat about it,” said Hardie. “He was one of the reasons I went to Plymouth and one of the reasons why I did so well there.
“We've had promotions together and we've done well in the Championship at parts before he left. So, yeah, he's a massive part in it and I'm looking forward to working with him again.”
Hardie’s goal-scoring form for Plymouth earned the Scot – who started his career at Rangers before also playing north of the border on loan at Raith Rovers, St Mirren and Livingston – a move to Championship newcomers Wrexham in June, 2025.
After a spell out injured, Hardie belatedly joined Huddersfield Town’s League One promotion push on loan last season and now joins the Whites with an impressive track record that has brought him over 100 career goals and almost a century in League football at close to a rate of one in every three games.
Twenty-two of those have come at Championship level and Hardie is relishing the prospect of another crack at the division with newly-promoted Wanderers following a brief spell in the North-West earlier in his career at Blackpool.
“It could have happened a few times in the past, but to get it done now it's one that I've been looking forward to,” added Hardie, who has been tracked closely by the Whites in the past as one of the most effective forwards in the EFL.
“I've been here as a player a few times, playing against the club, and it's going to be nice to walk out on this side of the tunnel. I'm looking forward to getting back on the pitch again and back doing what I do best, which is scoring goals and hopefully helping this club go as high as we can.
“I think the supporters are a massive part of this club. You can see the stadium and when this place is bouncing it's a hard place to come.
“I knew that as a player previously, so when I'm going to be on this end of it it's going to be special walking out there. The fans are the thing that drives this club and it's obviously a huge place as well.
“The club deserves to be here (in the Championship). You could say there's not really going to be time to play into it. We need to all go with the same mindset of ‘we're here, we deserve to be here’.
“So, yeah, I'm excited for it and can't wait to get started. I'm the type of player that gives everything wherever I am, no matter the situation, lone or permanent. It's something that I'm excited for and I can't wait to get going.”
Hardie joins wideman Gaizka Larrazabal, midfielder David Watson, defenders Ben Davies, Akin Famewo and Luca Stephenson and winger Kyliane Dong in joining the Whites since promotion from League One with more than two weeks to go in the transfer window.
Watch the full interview with the Whites’ latest new recruit on Wanderers TV and to get your ticket for Saturday’s Championship opener, please go HERE