Wrexham brought in two strikers during the January transfer window and that has made life difficult for a couple of fan favourites.
The dust has settled on the January transfer window now and Wrexham can be pleased with the business completed as Phil Parkinson focused on attacking additions.
Wrexham landed Ryan Longman from Hull City with the versatile ace – capable of playing up front, as a winger or as a wing back – arriving for £500,000.
Wrexham forked out big money for Sam Smith, striking a club-record deal to bring the striker in from Reading.
Jay Rodriguez signed on the dotted line just hours later as the former England striker quit hometown club Burnley for a move to the STōK Cae Ras.
Signing two strikers and another player with forward experience was quite the commitment from Wrexham, and it may push some favourites out.
State of play in Wrexham attack
Smith and Rodriguez have become Parkinson’s first-choice strike pairing since their arrival in North Wales.
Wrexham have so much competition for those two spots though and the January business means big names are missing out.
Jack Marriott and Steven Fletcher have been given the nod as substitutes, meaning three notable forwards aren’t even making the matchday squad.
Modou Faal is the least surprising case with the young target man viewed as a player to develop for the future.
Faal joined Wrexham from West Bromwich Albion but has yet to even start a League One game, so his omissions are no great shock.
Paul Mullin on the other hand… that’s a bigger deal.
Wrexham’s goal hero hasn’t quite shown his goalscoring prowess in League One and we may be seeing the start of him being phased out.
Parkinson has explained Mullin’s absence by suggesting that his recent omission from the Wrexham squad is purely down to selection and not injury-related.
Parkinson simply prefers having Marriott and Fletcher as his options on the bench, meaning Mullin is one of the odd men out.
Ollie Palmer facing uphill task at Wrexham
Then we come to Ollie Palmer.
The giant striker has been a popular man ever since arriving from AFC Wimbledon back in 2022.
Palmer has been a regular starter for Parkinson but the goals haven’t exactly flowed – just 10 in his last 66 league appearances for Wrexham.
Clubs seemingly caught wind of Palmer’s situation and a late January transfer appeared to be a real possibility.
Palmer chose to stay at Wrexham though, snubbing interest in order to fight for his place at Wrexham.
We haven’t seen Palmer involved since and he wasn’t even on the bench against Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Trophy as Faal landed a start.
If Mullin, Wrexham’s go-to man for goals in recent years, can’t even get on the bench then Palmer’s chances appear even slimmer.
The decision to move away from Palmer seems to have come rather abruptly with the striker playing regularly right up until Smith and Rodriguez arrived.
Palmer may have snubbed a January move but he will surely be on the move this summer as things stand, with Mullin and even Faal potentially ahead of him in the pecking order right now.