Wrexham were interested in signing £19m French striker Sidiki Cherif in January. The transfer didn’t happen, but it wasn’t due to the £19m transfer fee.
New signing Bailey Cadamarteri let his true feelings out when he admitted being unsure of his Wrexham move. A subpar Championship outing against the Reds that included a wasted 1v1 chance could have actually swayed Wrexham’s mood to other striker targets. After all, the club had a lengthy shortlist of young strikers for the January transfer window.
Among them, was £19m French talent Sidiki Cherif. In recent years, a number of French wonderkids have done well across Europe’s top 5 leagues. Hence, Wrexham plotting Sidiki Cherif’s signature was a statement of intent for the club’s upcoming future.
Despite that, Wrexham fans weren’t impressed by Cherif’s scoring output or his lavish £19m asking price. When the Frenchman jetted off to Turkey to join Fenerbahce the fanbase must have assumed that his transfer fee proved to be a deal-breaker for Wrexham.
Wrexham didn’t reject Sidiki Cherif signing for £19m transfer fee
However, the reality was from it. Wrexham could have gone ahead and broken the bank to sign Sidiki Cherif but a different reason held them back.
In his own words, Wrexham director Shaun Harvey admitted to Fearless In Devotion saying: “Phil [Parkinson] has made his name at the club by keeping a harmonious dressing room as far as is practically possible. On the basis that you can only pick eleven players to start any one game, there’s always bound to be some disquiet at some stage.”
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So, the root cause for rejecting Sidiki Cherif signing was down to having too many strikers but with only a limited amount of minutes to handover. Looking at Wrexham, this reason fits aptly on the Sam Smith and Kieffer Moore situation.
The latter was the Reds first-choice forward throughout the first half of the season and then Sam Smith took over. Currently, it feels an injustice to both whenever boss Phil Parkinson trusts one to start and the other to come off the bench.
What if Wrexham signed Sidiki Cherif?
With Sidiki Cherif arriving for five times the money Wrexham paid for both Sam Smith and Kieffer Moore’s transfers combined, the striker selection could have escalated into a headache for Phil Parkinson. In that case, it’s clear that Davis Keillor-Dunn and Bailey Cadamarteri wouldn’t have been signed further.
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Also, it’s worth considering that Kieffer Moore is 33 years old and his prime years are well past him. As such, the Welshman would have accepted a rotation role to play once every 2-3 games. Sam Smith is in good rhythm since 2026, and risking him also in the striker rotation would be quite silly from the Championship point of view.
Ultimately, the scenario would be Sidiki Cherif starting a game, then Sam Smith the other and Kieffer Moore coming in whenever the team runs out of goals. Neither player gets the opportunity to play to their strengths and Wrexham struggles to string even two consecutive league wins.
Plus, it could be possible that Sidiki Cherif requests a transfer away from Wrexham or atleast a loan exit. Last week, Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna hinted that Sammie Szmodics was a problematic figure in the dressing room.
Who knows, Phil Parkinson could have been saying the same about Sidiki Cherif if the 19-year-old’s transfer didn’t work out and he got fed up with not playing regularly. There was definitely a likelihood of Sidiki Cherif hitting the ground running at Wrexham and exceeding everyone’s expectations.
But for now, the tell-tale signs suggest that Wrexham dodged a £19m bullet by not bringing Sidiki Cherif over to the Racecourse.
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