Athletic have signed striker Matt Smith from Solihull Moors. CEO Alan Hardy believes it is worth taking a gamble on players who have succeeded in the lower leagues. Smith has signed a two-year deal at Boundary Park. He first caught the eye of Athletic manager Paul Dickov after he scored 23 goals in 27 appearances last season.
Hardy said, “Obviously Paul has taken a gamble by bringing in a player from a non-league club, but Matt is an exciting talent who has scored a lot of goals. Sometimes signing lads from a lower level does work out. You only have to look at the likes of Charlie Austin at Burnley, and Peterborough’s Craig Mackail-Smith. They all started at the bottom. Clubs snapped them up and they have established themselves in league football. The manager won’t have a problem looking at non-league players again, depending on what materialises with his other transfer targets. Our scouts are out and about watching matches all over the place and at different levels of football.”