{"id":273049,"date":"2025-07-18T21:31:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T21:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/273049\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T21:31:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T21:31:16","slug":"michael-smith-leaves-sheffield-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/273049\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Smith leaves Sheffield Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Smith is now in search of a new club after his contract at Sheffield Wednesday was terminated by mutual consent, amid a financial crisis which has left players keen to leave.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Smith joined the Yorkshire-based side in 2022 from Rotherham United. Since then, he has gone on to score 32 goals and chip in with 14 assists in 127 appearances for the Owls<\/a>, but has now been allowed to depart Hillsborough<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old was linked with a move to Wrexham in January<\/a> which never materialised, but is now set to find a new club along with former colleague Josh Windass, following their requests to leave Sheffield Wednesday<\/a> being granted.<\/p>\n\n

Michael Smith’s Championship stats 2024\/25 per 90 mins – (Fbref.com<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Non-penalty goals<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

0.34<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Non-penalty expected goals (npxG)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

0.35<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Shots<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2.88<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Assists<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

0.20<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Expected assists (xAG)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

0.18<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

npxG + xAG<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

0.52<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n\n

Shot-creating actions<\/p>\n<\/td>\n\n

2.78<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Smith ended last season as Wednesday<\/a>‘s second-highest goalscorer in the Championship, with eight goals to his name in 41 outings<\/a>. He also notched a further four assists<\/a>, proving once again to be a reliable attacking outlet in the second-tier.<\/p>\n

There have been reports emerging about Wrexham and Middlesbrough showing an interest in the striker<\/a>, so with the race for his services hotting up, Football League World looked at three clubs who should sign Smith this summer, and why.<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

Barnsley<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Supporter<\/p>\n

This suggestion isn’t one that will be popular with any Wednesday<\/a> supporters, but could be a move that makes sense for both the player and Barnsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite adding Reyes Cleary and David McGoldrick<\/a> to their attacking arsenal this summer, Conor Hourihane’s side could do with another experienced striker to play alongside Davis Keillor-Dunn.<\/p>\n

Smith could be the perfect fit for the Tykes<\/a>, as his experience at both Championship and League One level would be a welcome addition, and coming off the back of a strong season at Sheffield Wednesday could make the transition seamless.<\/p>\n

Logistically, the 33-year-old wouldn’t have to move far due to Barnsley<\/a>‘s proximity to Sheffield, and his hold-up play alongside Keillor-Dunn could help form a formidable partnership in League One.<\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

Rotherham United<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"michael<\/p>\n

Having departed Yorkshire rivals Rotherham<\/a> in favour of joining Sheffield Wednesday, Smith could now make the short journey back to the New York Stadium to add to his legacy for the club.<\/p>\n

In his four years with the Millers<\/a>, Smith played 210 times<\/a> in all competitions, scoring 60 goals and assisting a further 21<\/a>, including a prolific season in 2021-22, as he led his side to promotion from League One.<\/p>\n

Rotherham<\/a> have fallen on hard times in recent years, and Steve Evans’ return to the club ended in failure, and the departures of Jonson Clarke-Harris and Malik Wilks have left them rather short of options up front.<\/p>\n

A move to bring Smith back to S60 would be a statement of intent by Matt Hamshaw, as they look to make up for last season’s struggles. A proven goalscorer at League One level, the striker would bring some much-needed firepower to the Millers’ front line to add to Sam Nombe’s goalscoring attributes.<\/p>\n

3 <\/p>\n

Portsmouth<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Fratton<\/p>\n

If Smith wants to remain in the Championship and is open to relocating in the twilight of his career, a return to Portsmouth<\/a> could be an excellent option for the experienced attacker to continue playing in the second tier – he previously played for the south coast outfit between 2016 and 2017, scoring 10 times in 37 appearances.<\/p>\n

Whilst minutes will be harder to come by at Fratton Park, the 33-year-old proved last season that he’s still more than capable of producing strong numbers at Championship level in a mid-table side, which is exactly what Pompey<\/a> will be hoping to be next season.<\/p>\n

John Mousinho has got star striker Colby Bishop and hotshot Tommy Waddingham on the books already, but Smith would offer a much different option to these two as a potential impact player from the bench.<\/p>\n

His physical prowess, experience, and leadership qualities could make him somewhat of a game-changer for Portsmouth<\/a>, and whilst it’s unlikely he’d be playing week-in-week-out, Smith would certainly offer a new dimension to the Pompey attack.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tHow Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer reacted to Josh Windass leaving Sheffield Wednesday
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Windass is now no longer an Owl, despite having his contract extended this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michael Smith is now in search of a new club after his contract at Sheffield Wednesday was terminated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-273049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-sheffield","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114876375762194385","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}