DEAN Keates is understood to have been offered a two-year contract with a League Two club – ruling out any possibility of a move to Grimsby Town.
That's according joint boss Rob Scott, who says that the Mariners would be unable to offer that length of deal and therefore it would be 'a waste of time' to pursue the out-of-contract Wrexham skipper.
As well as the two-year offer, Keates, 34, is also considering a new one-year contract from the Dragons but has already labelled it as 'disappointing'.
And while Scott admitted that Keates, is of the calibre that the duo will be targeting this summer, he doesn't foresee any agreement with the experienced midfielder.
When asked if he and Paul Hurst would be tempted to make an approach, Scott replied: "Dean Keates? I don't think we'll be able to get him. Keatesy is a good player and did well in a team that's performed well over the last couple of years.
"But from what I've read at least, he's got an offer of a two-year-deal and that's not something we're going to be able to compete with in terms of length of contract for a player of his age.
"It's a bit of a waste of time trying to go down that route," he added.
With Keates seemingly off Town's radar, the joint bosses have said they will look to other high-calibre targets.
And Scott said most would be 'astounded' by the scope of their mission to bring the right players into Blundell Park.
He continued: "We'd like to think we're fishing in a big pond because we're looking at players who could possibly pick up League One or League Two clubs.
"If I showed everyone the list of players – they'd be astounded at how many are on there.
"Gradually we'll tick those off as we either rule them out or they go to other clubs.
"That list of 50 or so players will gradually dwindle down to 15 or 20 names and then we'll have to see where we are.
"We can't compete 'big money-wise' – we know that. What we need to do is be prudent and spend in the right areas – that takes time to get the right players in."
