Wrexham are in desperate need of a new striker this month but a move for one target is looking very unlikely.
The Red Dragons have been searching for a new centre-forward since the back end of 2024 amid poor form from the likes of Ollie Palmer and Paul Mullin.
However, to say that the club have had a nightmare trying to recruit a decent number nine would be putting it lightly.
After being linked to Wrexham, Joe Gelhardt scored a stunner in his first outing for new club Hull City this month.
Meanwhile, a deal for Michael Smith looks unlikely after the Red Dragons made him their number-one striker target yet again.
Now, with just six days of the 2025 winter transfer window to go, Wrexham are being linked with another number nine but fans probably shouldn’t get their hopes up.
Wrexham linked with Reading striker Sam Smith
With a deal for Sheffield Wednesday’s Smith seemingly off the cards, it appears the Welsh outfit have turned their attention to another.
Football League World reported on Wednesday that Wrexham are now planning to move for Reading ace, Sam Smith.
After joining their youth ranks from Manchester United in 2014, Smith left the Royals on a free transfer for Cambridge United in 2021.
He returned to the club in 2023, however, and is now playing some of the best football of his career.
The 26-year-old netted 15 in 34 League One matches last term and is on course to better that tally in 2024/25, already scoring 11 and assisting two in 25.
No Wrexham striker comes close to matching his goal return despite Reading, on the whole, having a weaker squad than the Red Dragons.
As a result, it seems like the perfect move for Parkinson and co. to make this month, but fans shouldn’t get their hopes up of a deal happening.
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Why Wrexham are unlikely to sign Sam Smith
Operating in the January transfer window is always tricky given most teams aren’t looking to sell their best players midway through a campaign.
Smith’s importance to Reading would have already made a move hard to complete but as first pointed out by Racecourse Ramble on X/Twitter, the Berkshire outfit are under a transfer embargo so will not be able to replace their star striker before deadline day next week.
As reported by the BBC, Reading were placed under the embargo by the EFL on October 7th, 2024, due to ‘the late filing of financial accounts to Companies House, and relates to the 2022-23 accounting period’.
Reading were hopeful of the embargo being lifted ‘at the earliest opportunity’, but over three months later, it’s still ongoing.
Noel Hunt’s side are in with a chance of securing a play-off place this season so it seems very unlikely they will let Smith join Wrexham, especially as they can’t replace him for the second half of the campaign.