Wrexham wanted to sign a new striker in the January transfer window but Phil Parkinson ended up signing two.
Wrexham are going strong in the League One table, sitting third and holding a great chance of a third promotion in a row.
Phil Parkinson’s side have made a patchy start to 2025 though and reinforcements during the January window were paramount.
Wrexham wanted a new striker heading into the window but Phil Parkinson didn’t settle for just one addition.
Sam Smith joined Wrexham from Reading in a club-record deal before Jay Rodriguez joined from Burnley just hours later.
Smith and Rodriguez impressed Wrexham fans as the started together against Crawley Town last week and big things will be expected of them moving forward.
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Sam Smith once replaced Paul Mullin
Smith is a particularly eye-catching signing.
The former Manchester United trainee is a proven League One goalscorer with Cambridge United and Reading.
Wrexham therefore had to shatter the club’s transfer record to sign him with Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds putting up big cash.
Smith arrives to bolster Wrexham’s attacking options but he was actually signed to replace a certain Paul Mullin many years ago.
Mullin was banging in the goals for Cambridge and helped fire the club to promotion from League Two in 2021.
Mullin was tempted to Wrexham by McElhenney though, dropping down two divisions in a surprise move.
That left Cambridge rocked; losing Mullin was one thing but losing him to a then-National League team was something nobody really anticipated.
Mullin had already indicated his intention to leave and Cambridge picked out Smith as the man to fill the void.
Then 23, Smith had previously spent time on loan at Cambridge and returned on a permanent basis.
Smith hit 28 goals in 91 League One games for Cambridge, proving to be a superb Mullin replacement.
Sadly for Cambridge, Smith made the same decision as Mullin just years after signing, walking away at the end of his contract to rejoin Reading.
The seven-figure fee Wrexham have paid just goes to show the kind of talent Cambridge lost in Smith and he will be looking to prove his League One goalscoring credentials once more.
Smith and Mullin can join forces at Wrexham
Nearly four years since Smith replaced Mullin at Cambridge, the pair have a chance to join forces at Wrexham.
That wasn’t possible at Crawley last weekend as Mullin has picked up a slight injury problem.
Soon enough though, both will be at Parkinson’s disposal and we could see Smith and Mullin up front together.
Mullin may not have enjoyed his finest season but he is still a real goal threat to any League One defence.
Throw Smith into the mix and Wrexham can be incredibly dangerous moving forward, something Parkinson clearly felt was important with promotion to the Championship on the line.