It's been one of those weeks at Meadow Park where the club is doing two very different jobs at once: locking down the players it wants to keep, and quietly coming to terms with losing the one they want to keep.
Zak Brunt and Tom White have both put pen to paper on new contracts, giving Luke Garrard some certainty heading into the season. Abdul Abdulmalik, on the other hand, looks to be on his way out, after a heartfelt social media post all but confirmed his head has been turned by interest from Sweden.
Brunt's new deal is thoroughly deserved. He arrived permanently from Barnet last November for a club-record fee, having already had two separate loan spells at Wood, and repaid that investment in style - 15 goals and 14 assists from his attacking midfield berth across a season that saw the club go on their best run in years. Big moments came with big goals too: he was on the scoresheet in the play-off eliminator win over Forest Green and again in the semi-final success away at Carlisle. Improving his terms was always going to be a priority once the summer business got underway, and Wood have got that done early.
Tom White's situation was a little different. The 29-year-old joined from Morecambe last summer and made an encouraging start before a bad hamstring injury took him out of the picture for a chunk of the campaign. He wasn't back involved until March, but he made it count, playing a big part in Wood securing fourth spot and then captaining the side out at Wembley for the play-off final, which ended in defeat to Rochdale. His new deal runs to the end of 2027-28, with the club also holding the option to extend it a year further if they choose.
Then there's the situation everyone at Meadow Park will really be talking about. Abdulmalik was left out of the squad entirely for Saturday's 3-0 win over Forest Green Rovers, prompting Garrard to insist afterwards that the forward remained a Wood player. Whatever the truth of that at the weekend, it's harder to believe now.
On Tuesday afternoon, Abdulmalik posted a lengthy, personal message to his followers reflecting on his upbringing and what football has meant to him and his family. Without naming a move outright, he made clear he sees this as a rare chance to push his career forward and one he isn't prepared to turn down, thanking Wood and the fanbase for their part in his journey while signalling he's ready to move on to whatever comes next.
Read between the lines and it's not hard to see this as a player who has already made his decision, whatever the paperwork says right now.
The suitors being talked about are Djurgården, the Swedish top-flight club, who are reported to have had an opening offer of around £1.5m turned down. Get anywhere near that figure once terms are agreed and it would represent a landmark deal for the National League - eclipsing the £1m Leicester City spent to prise Jamie Vardy away from Fleetwood back in 2012, a fee that's stood unchallenged as the division's benchmark for well over a decade.
It leaves Wood in a tricky spot. Garrard will want his most dangerous attacking player available as the club looks to go again for promotion, but a statement like Abdulmalik's rarely gets walked back. If the money on the table is close to what's being reported, it's the kind of fee that reshapes what the club can do in the transfer market for seasons to come - and there'll be plenty watching to see how quickly this one gets resolved now it's out in the open.
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