Grimsby to beat Rhyl for Llewellyn Signature

Rhyl seem to have missed out on the major coup of tempting Wales striker Chris Llewellyn to Belle Vue.

The six-times capped ex-Wrexham player will instead choose to sign for League Two side, Grimsby Town as he still harbours International ambition and believes that he has a better chance of playing for Wales again with the Blundell Park club. He will arrive at the Mariners on Monday to finalise the two-year deal.

Reports in the Welsh Media on Monday suggested that Rhyl were holding talks with Llewellyn, who was at Belle Vue last Saturday to watch the Intertoto Cup match against Bohemians. He was with former Wrexham colleague, Neil Roberts and it is believed that he held informal talks with Rhyl's hierarchy over the weekend.

Llewellyn won his last cap for Wales in May 2007 as a sub against New Zealand in Wrexham and won all of his six caps as a substitute. He scored one goal for his country at the Racecourse against Liechtenstein and was last involved with the Welsh set-up under John Toshack in September 2007 when he was an unused sub against Germany and a travelling reserve in Slovakia.

Club president Peter Parry discussed the club's plans for the future with Llewellyn, but it seems that another chance in the Football League was too much ofa temptation to turn down.

Llewellyn was a product of the Norwich City youth team and broke into the first team at Carrow Road in the 1997/98 season making a total of 16 appearances with 3 goals. During this season he gained Welsh 'B' and Under-21 honours. He later won full honours and made his Welsh debut against Malta in 1998.

Due to poor form in the 2002/03 season, however, he lost his place and went on loan to Bristol Rovers. He was released in June 2003 from Norwich and signed for Wrexham and a strong 2003/04 season saw him recalled to the Welsh squad in May 2004 and he came on as a sub to win his 3rd cap against Norway.

Later, he signed for Hartlepool but only stayed one season and returned on a free to Wrexham on June 29th 2006. His first international goal was scored at his home ground against Liechtenstein in November 2006, when he was playing alongside his ex-Norwich City strike partner and close friend, Craig Bellamy.

On the final day of the 2006/07 season, Wrexham needed to avoid defeat against Boston United to avoid relegation to the non-league. After coming from 1-0 down, Chris Llewellyn scored the goal which handed the Dragons a 2-1 lead before they eventually winning 3-1 and preserving their Football League Two status. He was released by Brian Carey at Wrexham in May though, following the club's relegation to the Football Conference.