"He is not prolific" - Pundit issues divisive Wrexham AFC transfer claim amid £2m Reading FC swoop | OneFootball

Wrexham are bringing in some extra firepower before the end of the transfer window, but Carlton Palmer believes there are better options out there

Carlton Palmer believes that Wrexham will be making a mistake in their transfer swoop for Reading FC striker Sam Smith, with the former England international questioning the striker’s ability to fire the Red Dragons to promotion.

Football League World exclusively revealed that Phil Parkinson’s side were considering a move for former Cambridge United man Smith in the coming days, as they look to add to their frontline before the February 3 transfer deadline.

And it has since been reported that Smith has agreed to make the move to the Racecourse Ground, with talkSPORT's Alex Crook revealing that a £2 million fee will be paid to the Royals for their talisman's services.

The Welsh outfit find themselves six points off the automatic promotion spots in the third tier as we head into the business end of the season, and they are now set to add Smith - who has scored eleven times in 25 league appearances for the Royals this season - to their ranks.

But despite that goalscoring return, Palmer has questioned the forward’s potential as a long-term investment at the club, and believes a move for Sheffield Wednesday frontman Michael Smith would have been more worthwhile.

Carlton Palmer warns Wrexham AFC over Sam Smith signing

Despite being linked with a plethora of attacking options, it is Smith that is set to arrive in North Wales, as Parkinson looks to add more goals to his forward line for the second-half of the campaign.

While the hunt for a third successive promotion is still very much on the cards, Wrexham have found points hard to come by so far in 2025, with just one win from their five league matches of the calendar year seeing them lose ground in the race for the top two.

The goals have been shared around the side so far this season, with no player scoring more than six league goals to date, with Steven Fletcher, Elliott Lee and Max Cleworth sharing the honour of being the club’s top scorer heading into February.

Although there are a number of names that are capable of popping up on the scoresheet week on week, Palmer believes the club need a prolific League One marksman to help in their promotion quest, and doesn’t believe Smith to be the answer in that regard - despite the fact he's hit double figures in his last four seasons at the level.

The former Sheffield Wednesday man said, prior to news of Smith's move to Wales being on the verge of completion: “Wrexham are looking at bringing in some extra firepower; I know they have a lot of strikers but they have been struggling to find the back of the net regularly, so they are looking at bringing in the firepower that could fire them to promotion.

“They have turned their attention to Reading FC striker Sam Smith; he has regularly performed well in League One, but only twice has he ever hit 15 league goals in a season.

"Wrexham are probably thinking that if he can get them ten goals between now and the end of the season that would get them up.

“I don’t think it would be a good signing, I really don’t. He is not prolific in League One - he is not a 20 goal a season man - and even when he played in League Two he wasn’t prolific either.”

Carlton Palmer makes Wrexham, Michael Smith transfer claim

Michael Smith has been something of a long-term transfer target for the Red Dragons, with links first emerging in the summer regarding the Wednesday forward, before another approach was said to have happened earlier this week.

Having scored 36 goals across his last two seasons in the third tier with the Owls and Rotherham United, Smith is a player who Palmer believes would make Wrexham competitive in the battle for the top two, with his considerable presence in the final third also wreaking havoc in League One.

That is in stark contrast to his opinion on Smith, who the former England international believes is something of a panic buy as the transfer deadline draws ever nearer.

Palmer continued: “Your priority is to get promotion, and if they feel that Sam Smith can fire them the goals to get them promotion, then that is fair enough.

“I suppose as the window gets later and they haven’t done any business, this is where it ends up, but for me, I don’t think he is any better than what they already have got in the building, you have just got to hope that the one already in the building start firing and get goals.

“The problem is when you step up divisions, as Wrexham have found and kept the players they have, it is whether they carry through the threat.

“Sam Smith is under contract for another two years at Reading, so they are going to have to pay good money for him. I know this season he has got 11 goals and two assists, but I am not so sure that he is going to come in and do the business.

“Jack Marriott scored five in his first ten games, and is just coming back from a broken leg, Steven Fletcher has six, while Paul Mullin, Ollie Palmer and Mo Faal have not found their form.

“I can see why Wrexham are in the hunt for a striker, but I think they would be better off getting Michael Smith. I know they are trying desperately to get him out of Sheffield Wednesday; he has proven he can score goals at Championship level, he is prolific in League One, and he will get them promoted, so I think he is the one they need to break the bank to get.”