Former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Carlton Palmer believes there’s one main reason why Joe Morrell could sign for Wrexham over Championship clubs.
Wrexham completed their first piece of business this summer by bringing Arthur Okonkwo back to the club.
Following his incredible loan spell at the Racecourse Ground, it was a no-brainer to sign him permanently as Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds beat Championship clubs to his signature.
The 22-year-old has now resolved their issue of needing a long-term number-one goalkeeper but Phil Parkinson still has plenty of work to do.
Wrexham’s rapid rise up the divisions has left them needing quality replacements for some of their old guard as they aim to challenge the promotion contenders.
Reinforcements are needed at centre-back, left-back, striker and in midfield, with the latter seeing Parkinson eye a move for Portsmouth’s Joe Morrell.
Carlton Palmer explains why Joe Morrell could sign for Wrexham
Morrell is out of contract at League One title winners Portsmouth and there is an acceptance he will leave Fratton Park.
The 27-year-old has understandably attracted interest from multiple Championship and third-tier clubs, including Queens Park Rangers, Wrexham and divisional rivals Birmingham City.
Wrexham have shown they can fend off the big hitters to land Okonkwo, and pundit Carlton Palmer believes they can repeat the same trick with Morrell.
Speaking to Football League World, the former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder thinks the chance to play regular football in Wales could be the deciding factor in negotiations as he wouldn’t be guaranteed to play every week at Birmingham and QPR, for instance.
“Joe just wants to play football, so it will be interesting to see,” Palmer said.
“For me, I think a move to a club like Wrexham would see him play regular first-team football, as they’ve just got promotion.
“The likes of QPR and Birmingham, I think it would be a good addition to those squads, but he’d be more of a squad player than a regular, so Wrexham would be a great move for him, and I think it would see him get more chances at first team football.”
What role would Joe Morrell play at Wrexham?
Contrary to what Palmer thinks, Morrell could find it difficult to nail down a regular starting spot.
Of course, he would be a fantastic signing. He’s made 121 appearances in the third tier and been capped 37 times internationally for Wales however, there is strong competition in Parkinson’s engine room.
A quartet of George Evans, James McClean, Andy Cannon and Elliot Lee is a League One midfield on paper, and the addition of Morrell would only add to that quality.
Morrell is a ‘towering’ presence centrally and a role at Wrexham would likely see him share game time with Lee and Cannon in an advanced role.
That pair produced 32 goal contributions between them in the league last term and while that number is likely to drop considerably in the third tier, signing Morrell would only make them work harder to keep their place in the starting XI.
Leave a Reply