After three and a half years at the club, Ollie Palmer is leaving Wrexham this summer.
Amid much speculation over his future, it was said earlier this month that Ollie Palmer will depart before the September 1 deadline.
It has now been reported that Palmer will sign for Swindon Town, with a deal to be done in the next 24 hours.
His exit comes after the Wrexham striker was told he can leave during a private meeting before the Championship season got underway.
Palmer has won an award for what will be his final appearance as a Red Dragons player.
In some ways, his exit does make a lot of sense as Phil Parkinson clearly doesn’t see him in his long-term plans.
But the 33-year-old moving on will leave a big hole in the squad that nobody else can really fill.
Ollie Palmer is the only cover for Kieffer Moore
Kieffer Moore signed for Wrexham from Sheffield United in a £2m deal earlier this summer.
The striker is already impressing, with Moore outperforming Paul Mullin when looking at both players’ starts to life in North Wales.
So far, the veteran striker has three goals for the Welsh side, but he brings so much more than that to the team.
After watching his performance against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, we suggested that Moore is Wrexham’s most important player.
The reason for this is that he excels in the ‘big man’ role that Parkinson must have to implement his style of play.
Every other forward option available, while talented, cannot really step in to replace Moore. We have seen this several times already this season when Ryan Hardie and Sam Smith have either started or come on in games when the ex-Sheffield United ace has been taken off.
In 2024/25, Steven Fletcher acted as the ‘big man’ off the bench, and he was solid. But the Scotsman has since left the club.
It means that Palmer was the only like-for-like replacement in the squad should Moore need a rest, get injured or be suspended.
But what happens to Parkinson’s plan now that the club icon is moving on?
- READ MORE: Manager explains decision to sign ‘good’ player Phil Parkinson released from Wrexham this summer
Wrexham need another striker
Suggesting Wrexham need to sign another striker may seem odd given they have Smith, Hardie, Moore, Nathan Broadhead, Josh Windass and Jay Rodriguez to compete for two roles after Palmer leaves.
But none of them are really able to do what Moore does in this Wrexham team.
With four full days of the transfer window to go, the Dragons are not currently being linked with another number nine.
Instead, the priority looks to be getting another midfielder through the door, with a move for Jordan James still on the cards at the time of writing.
But if another striker with a similar profile to Moore isn’t signed by September 1 and something happens to their three-goal star, Wrexham will have to wait until January to get in cover, unless they look at the free agent market.