League One high-flyers Wigan Athletic appear not to be in the race for Millwall striker Matt Smith after all, according to Wigan Today reporter Paul Kendrick.

Sources on the south coast of England claimed earlier today that the Latics were in pole position to land the 32-year-old ahead of Portsmouth, who had expressed an interest in bringing the target man to Fratton Park.

However it appeared that Wigan were set to land Smith and become Pompey's nemesis in the transfer market once again after taking both Jack Whatmough and Tom Naylor from them in the summer window.

 

 

 

 

That may not be the case now though as per Kendrick, Smith is not on the list of targets that manager Leam Richardson is pursuing this month.

The Latics do want to bring in a new striker, and one is needed because of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Charlie Wyke's absence after he suffered a cardiac arrest at the end of November.

However unless something drastic happens it won't be the Millwall man, who has made 21 appearances for the Lions in the Championship this season, scoring once.

The Verdict

It's perhaps a shame for Wigan fans that Smith doesn't appear to be a a target as he could be exactly the player that the club need.

Richardson is light in terms of numbers at the top end of the pitch and with Wyke's absence they don't have that kind of player that can hold the ball up if needed to bring others into play.

Smith is a player that can do that and with him being out of contract this summer, it appeared that he may be an ideal short-term target.

Wigan have done a lot of things right though since their Bahraini takeover in 2021 though so they have to be trusted when it comes to who they eventually do bring in to bolster their striking options.