Ing-ger-lund, Ing-ger-lund, Ing-ger-lund…

Today’s article is more than a perfunctory overlap between Not The Top 20 and The England Pod. It is understated just how much England’s men’s team rests on the strength of the entire pyramid. Not even Venn and his diagram can overcomplicate the picture.

The EFL is huuuuuuuge for England. Which is why, when we see tweets asking, “Who on Earth is going to be England’s starting striker after Harry Kane?”, we lock our phones, lean back in the rocking chair and stroke our chins or whiskers with a knowing smile, and start writing a piece like this one.

The nine members of the 2026 World Cup squad who spent meaningful parts of their development as permanent players at EFL clubs are:

• Jude Bellingham

• John Stones

• Dan Burn

• Ivan Toney

• Ollie Watkins

• Eberechi Eze

• Morgan Rogers

• Djed Spence

• Ezri Konsa

For some, the route was short, direct and extremely noisy. Bellingham left Birmingham City at 17, while Stones was starting for Barnsley in the Championship at 18. Both were obvious elite prospects playing senior football unusually early; “That lad’ll play for England one day” was no doubt muttered regularly at Oakwell and St Andrew’s.

For others, the journey was far more circuitous. Dan Burn didn’t leave the EFL permanently until he was 26. Ollie Watkins spent five years progressing from Exeter in League Two to Brentford in the Championship to Aston Villa in the Premier League. Toney played seven seasons in the EFL before Brentford provided his route to the top flight. There’s always room for late developers.

Some had long been regarded as top talents but needed opportunities lower down the pyramid to turn promise into progress. Rogers joined Middlesbrough after several EFL loans. Spence arrived at Boro as a 17-year-old youth signing before establishing himself in the first team.

Others accumulated years of senior football before reaching the Premier League. Konsa came through Charlton’s academy and completed three full first-team EFL seasons there and at Brentford. Eze followed a different path again: released by several academies, he was recruited by QPR for their Under-21s before forcing his way into senior football.

The lesson is that there is no single profile to look for. The next EFL player to reach an England World Cup squad might be a teenager already thriving in senior football. They could just as easily be a late developer, a former academy cast-off, or a player building steadily through several seasons in the divisions.

With that in mind, these are the 10 EFL players we think could get their hands on a cap one day – and, who knows, perhaps force their way into England’s plans for the 2030 World Cup.

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Will Lankshear, Middlesbrough

George Elek

Can’t start a fire!

Can’t start a fire without a spark.

And don’t Middlesbrough fans know it? Their team’s inability to finish the many chances they created under Kim Hellberg was the main reason Boro didn’t win promotion last season. Thankfully for them, Oxford fans can attest to the fact that Will Lankshear is on fire, and he’ll play the Championship off the park.

It’s an exciting move for a 21-year old English goalscorer to make at this stage of his career. A good 2026/27 campaign would see the ‘who comes after Harry Kane?’ conversation really zero in on a player who has been compared to his fellow ex-Spurs striker. He’s a great finisher with his right foot and his head. He’s a willing runner, although not the most mobile, and he can carry himself physically but often looks to buy cheap fouls. Sound familiar?

After a failed first loan at West Bromwich Albion, Lankshear scored 11 Championship goals for an Oxford side who didn’t create much. Most of those were predatory close-range finishes, although a long-distance strike against Sheffield Wednesday suggested that he, like Kane, has something more spectacular in him as well.

That spell was a huge step forward for Lankshear. He was always prolific in youth football; now he was taking those poaching instincts into the senior game. He’s further along in his development than, say, Liam Delap was at his age, and Delap got a £30m move to Chelsea not long after. Lankshear’s successful 2025/26 campaign could well be the perfect springboard for a player potentially destined for that England No.9 shirt.

Jovon Makama, Norwich City

George Elek

A year ago, the idea of losing Josh Sargent would have been terrifying for Norwich fans. When he did leave Carrow Road in January of this year, however, his departure was barely more than a footnote in their season, thanks to the emergence of Jovon Makama.

The 22-year-old is a fascinating profile. Being 6ft 5in, strong, and good in the air with good box movement, he is capable of playing as a goal-scoring target man. He also has the touch and feet to play wide, with a direct running style that means he’s just as comfortable peeling into wide areas to pick up the ball, before facing goal and driving forward.

Makama was a relatively late developer, with loan spells at non-league Gainsborough Trinity and Brackley Town doing little to forecast his future pedigree. It even took him a while after working his way into the Lincoln City team to show how good he was. His breakout season came in 2024/25, culminating in a hat-trick against Bristol Rovers – his final goals for the Imps, before Norwich came calling.

His development at Norwich under Philippe Clement’s tutelage was rapid, and he racked up 10 goals before a broken foot cut his season short in February. He has since sustained another foot injury and will miss the start of the season, which is frustrating because he is a good goalscoring campaign away from being one of the hottest properties in English football.

Makama’s 10 goals last season came at a rate of 0.56 per 90. If he can get anywhere near replicating that in 2026/27, then the Premier League will come calling in a year’s time, and perhaps international recognition will follow not long after.

Louis Page, Leicester City

Mike McCarthy

You have to admire the confidence of any teenager who tells the media in pre-season that they want to be a “main player” at their club. When they follow that by scoring directly from a corner, you take notice.

Louis Page turned 18 only this month, but he’ll know the opportunity that Leicester’s relegation has afforded him. Although he made 18 Championship appearances last season, only five were starts. Two came in August before Jordan James and Aaron Ramsey arrived on deadline day. Another two were immediately before and after Martí Cifuentes’ dismissal in January. His only start under Gary Rowett came after relegation had been confirmed. But Leicester’s new predicament is likely to push academy talent to the front.

Page’s introduction to Leicester fans came in a #10 role, although he says Russell Martin has been using him as more of a #6 or #8 in pre-season. Confidence on the ball is of the level you would expect from a player who’s gone through the England age groups from U17 to U20, and captained England’s U18s this summer. Social media sizzle reels feature several clips of Page receiving the ball on the half-turn and driving menacingly towards opponents.

Page signed a long-term contract last September – protection of his ever-increasing value. Leicester have been investing in the Lutterworth lad since he joined their under-9s team. He was 10 years old when Ben Chilwell made his England debut and 12 when Harvey Barnes did the same. Leicester’s academy certainly provides inspiration to go with the tools to succeed.

Jay Robinson, Southampton

Huw Davies

Although Robinson was in Southampton’s final XI of their 2024/25 Premier League season, it was a surprise when he started each of their first four Championship fixtures. He rewarded Will Still’s faith with a fine display against Wrexham on opening day, taking six shots, creating two chances and hitting the post, then earned Saints a draw at Ipswich by nodding in a cross unmarked.

After that came mostly cameos, as Léo Scienza announced himself, but Still and Tonda Eckert trusted the teenager to change games or see them out. No wonder – a good dribbler is an asset late in matches, and while 882 minutes makes for a small sample size, Robinson’s average of 2.86 successful dribbles per 90 was higher than anyone in the Championship except Watford’s Othmane Maamma (2.91). His success rate of 54% far outstripped Maamma’s 38% and even those of fellow carriers-in-chief, Scienza and Abdul Fatawu.

One reason is that, playing on the left wing, Robinson is adept going either inside or outside. When slightly more central, in a 3-4-2-1, he showed he can scan, receive and shift the ball out of his feet quickly. He got into the box often and was sometimes unlucky with his finishing – against Stoke, he hit the same post twice in five seconds, once with each foot. His habit of aiming for the corners should be encouraged.

Robinson must improve defensively, but that’s true of most teenage wingers. After injury restricted him to just three minutes of action after January, he can kick on this season while progressing from England’s Under-19s to their U21s.

Mateus Mané, Wolves

George Elek

This feels a bit like cheating – but, at the time of writing, Mateus Mané will be a Championship player for the upcoming season. While he has been linked with a move to Manchester United or Liverpool, it’s all quiet as things stand, and I cannot wait to see this 18-year-old prodigy light up the EFL for Wolves.

In a grim campaign at Molineux, Mane’s introduction into the first-team was the only positive. He’s an attacking midfielder who exudes confidence in everything he does, and is excellent at receiving the ball on the turn and driving into space. Each of his three Premier League goals showed outrageous quality for a player of his age and inexperience.

The first, against West Ham – shortly after he had won a penalty – involved Mané receiving the ball with his back to goal in the left channel. A great first touch with his weaker left foot, then another with his right to shift the ball inside, preceded a ferocious near-post strike from the edge of the area.

In Wolves’ next game, he produced another sumptuous first touch when played in behind, followed by a swift, clinical finish past Everton’s Jordan Pickford. These two goals showcased the kind of decisive final-third star quality we don’t see that often.

His rocket against Fulham in May was another example of elite ball-striking, and I’d expect Mane to score a number of similarly spectacular goals this season. Of his 42 shots in the top flight, 30 came from outside the box and 12 of those 30 were on target.

Although he registered only one assist, he is a creative passer, too. Suggesting as much is an xA of 3.69 and 30 chances created, of which seven were big chances. His qualities as a ball-carrier, goalscorer and creator make him such an exciting talent for his age. He’s also fairly versatile, able to play as an #8, a #10 or off the left in a front three.

The big issue is that Mané seems to have committed his international future to Portugal. He is a former England Under-18 player, though, and remains eligible. England supporters can only hope that the FA haven’t given up on persuading him to reconsider, because he is destined for the top.

Micah Mbick, Charlton Athletic

Huw Davies

Finding a future England international owned by a League Two club is understandably tricky, but in Mbick, we have a player who seriously impressed at that level last season. The question, ‘Can a teenage striker who has been prolific in youth football handle the fourth tier’s physicality?’ was answered quite emphatically: yes.

The Charlton youngster was on loan at the Cowleys’ Colchester, where he impressed straightaway. No, really, straightaway – here’s Danny Cowley after the 18-year-old made his debut:

Mbick went on to score nine competitive goals and assist another two, across 1,650 minutes (or 18.3 full 90s). As eye-catching as his goal threat was the way he used his body, offering strength in the tackle – sometimes too much, given he averaged three fouls per game – and in holding off defenders. His combination of guile and power allowed him to complete the second-most dribbles per 90 in League Two, with a remarkable 61% success rate.

It’s uncertain what 2026/27 will hold. Mbick is recovering from a bad knee injury and Charlton have eight strikers contracted, with Nathan Jones hinting at more to come. The striker’s long-term future, though, looks extremely bright.

Brad Hills, Stockport County

Sam Parry

The grim reality of football is that injuries impact careers. Brad Hills picked up one to his ACL late in 2025/26, just as Stockport were cementing themselves in the League One play-offs. At the time, he looked well set to step up a division.

Hills is the complete defensive package. He’s an aggressive stopper, with enough speed to keep quick strikers quiet; he also loves to win the ball in the air and on the ground, and makes a habit of doing so.

He has already been part of the England youth setup, so there’s plenty of stock set in his talent. In the post Terry/Ferdinand era, centre-back spots – perhaps more than any other – are up for grabs for EFL graduates. Dan Burn. Harry Maguire. John Stones. Not to mention Messrs Branthwaite, Mings, Coady, Dunk, Gomez, Tarkowski…

Hills would have to be something of a late bloomer if he’s to play for England one day, but there is plenty of evidence that it can happen.

Oliver Arblaster, Sheffield United

Sam Parry

I don’t want to obsess over injuries, but they are a recurring theme. Like Brad Hills, Ollie Arblaster spent months on the sidelines with an ACL injury. He is now on the other side of his recovery, having spent a chunk of the last campaign edging – rather slowly, it must be said – towards full fitness.

Arblaster has the skills expected of a modern midfielder at the highest level. He is comfortable receiving the ball under pressure and capable of moving it forward, with the strong technique to match a smart pick-a-pass brain.

He has something else, too, which helps him to stand out from many other technically strong central midfielders. Arblaster can dribble. He accelerates quickly into space and has the confidence to carry the ball through midfield, rather than relying only on his passing ability.

Last season, he was off the pace. In 26/27, Arblaster, with a full pre-season behind him, should be a different proposition. He turned 22 this year, and a strong season could put him firmly back into the international conversation… in the Under-21s. Technically, he can play throughout qualifying and at the 2027 European U21 Championship, even though he will be 23 by then.

We’ve seen how Lewis Cook, Alex Scott, Adam Wharton and now Hayden Hackney have made the step up to the Premier League (Hackney, relatively late at the age of 24). There’s a pathway for the Championship’s best central midfielders; Arblaster’s task is to prove he’s one of them. Then, later, who knows?

Zak Sturge, Millwall

Ali Maxwell

Zak Sturge was substituted in the 63rd minute of Millwall’s play-off semi-final second leg against Hull. The aggregate score was 0-0, and he had done a fantastic job of keeping Messrs Belloumi, Gelhardt and Joseph quiet. One minute later, Belloumi dribbled inside Sturge’s replacement, Alfie Doughty, and scored the goal that Sturge had done such a good job of preventing.

Sturge, 22, has a youth career CV featuring Brighton, then Chelsea – the football equivalent of an undergraduate degree at UCL followed by a Master’s at Oxford. Without a first-team pathway, he joined Millwall on loan in January 2025, then permanently that summer. He fought off Doughty and Joe Bryan to become Millwall’s starting left-back and finished 2025/26 strongly.

His physical, mental and defensive attributes are most encouraging. He is dogged, yet quick and agile in mind as well as body. Solid on the ball in defensive and midfield phases, he also has a knack for attacking the back post in space – although he does currently offer little in the way of quality delivery or dribbling in the final third.

If that ceiling never rises, then Tyrick Mitchell is the best comparison: Sturge should have a Premier League career and could make an England squad with good form, luck and a fair wind. Nico O’Reilly, Lewis Hall and Myles Lewis-Skelly are all younger than he, so the path to the very top looks long, but a full Championship season with Millwall should build momentum for his career and attract interest from top-flight clubs.

Jake Richards, Luton Town

Craig Bradley

When evaluating long-term potential in a young player, performance data is arguably less significant than passing the eye test. Jake Richards passes the eye test.

The teenager is graceful yet gritty, showing the kind of commitment in the tackle that you want in a #6 or an #8. His future could lie in either role, or as a #10, or even drifting in from the right wing, such is his broad skill set. Richards’ most eye-catching asset – and the kind you can’t see in the metrics – is the movement of his hips, as he rotates his body upon receiving the ball in order to be facing forward, always looking to progress play. It’s one sign of an elite midfielder.

He’s another graduate of Exeter City’s academy, which produced several future stars. But, whereas Ethan Ampadu, Jay Stansfield and Matt Grimes all jumped a division or two when they left Exeter as teenagers (Ollie Watkins, at 21, was more established by the time of his exit), Richards chose to stay in League One when he moved on. He was 17, yet instead of following the elite academy path and playing in PL2 for several years, he went to Luton last summer and got another 1,300 league minutes under his belt. That drive is easy to see in his play.

Will Richards win an England cap one day? Perhaps, perhaps not. But when a player makes 100 senior appearances before his 20th birthday, as looks likely to happen by the end of this season, that’s something you can find yourself pointing to, years down the line, when saying, “Of course, we always knew he was going to the top…”

Straight-up, honest favouritism. That’s the name of the bloody game.

Welcome to Done Deals, your weekly guide to every EFL transfer. Today, Sam Parry (Championship), Huw Davies (League One) and Craig Bradley (League Two) are picking their favourite bits of business from the week that was.

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• 🔗 The list of every EFL signing

In the Championship…

Sam Parry

1. Will Lankshear (ST) - [Tottenham - Middlesbrough] - Undisclosed (reported £10m + add-ons)

Last week I wrote about Boro signing Kyle Joseph and my thinking that he would be used as a No.9. With Morgan Rogers moving from Aston Villa to Chelsea for a rumoured £117m, Middlesbrough haven’t been slow to get the wallet out, despite reports that they will not receive their entire sell-on windfall in one chunk.

Anyhow. No bones about it: Will Lankshear’s arrival is an upgrade for Kim Hellberg’s squad. What it means for Joseph is, more than likely, fewer minutes through the middle and more time as a blood-and-thunder pressing right winger. When the facts change, I change with them.

The obvious line is that Lankshear has been signed to convert all of those chances that went begging for Boro last season. That point is perhaps a little overstated, though. Boro ranked 11th for big chances missed and scored 69 goals from 72.5 xG, so there was some underperformance but nothing dramatic.

Still, a finisher was wanted and a finisher is what they have got. Of Lankshear’s 11 goals in 2025/26, seven came with his right foot, one with his left and three with his head. Ten were scored from inside the box, while four came from set-piece situations. Among Championship players who played at least 2,500 minutes and scored at a rate of 0.25 goals per 90 or better, Lankshear ranked third for shot conversion at 18.97%, behind only Zan Vipotnik and Oli McBurnie.

Ability and availability, then.

Perhaps what Boro lacked was not simply a finisher at the top of the pitch, but a presence. They have more of that now.

Lankshear has a big frame, which he uses to occupy centre-backs; he’s good at bringing the ball down but can make runs in behind, too. That variety matters. He isn’t reliant on one particular finish or one route to goal. He can anticipate loose balls, attack crosses, hold his position between defenders and make himself a problem whenever the ball enters the box.

The 21-year-old’s link play is, perhaps predictably, that of a player who has started only 38 senior games. There are moments when a good first touch is let down by the pass that follows. Playing for Hellberg, that side of his game will need to improve. No matter. Coaching comes as part of the Hellberg bargain.

A poacher turned game-changer? We think it’s on the cards.

2. Lorent Tolaj (ST) - [Plymouth Argyle - Bristol City] - Undisclosed

Another striker on the move…

This time, we called it more than a month ago. In short: “Tolaj is a good all-rounder, able to link play and create as well as score.” It makes sense for Bristol City to bring him in following the sale of Sinclair Armstrong.

We like it. We like Tolaj. He’s got that fire (five yellows and a crazy red last term).

More to the point, he has proven himself an incredible goalscorer as he’s quickly worked his way up from the non-league to the second tier.

3. Tariq Lamptey (RB) - [Fiorentina - QPR] - Free

Any FIFA gamer (and I’m not calling it ‘EA Sports FC’) who has clutched the right bumper while controlling Tariq Lamptey will recognise that blistering pace and tidy close control make him an absolute demon. On the game, anyway. In real life, much of the same applies.

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Complete the survey

More than 500 supporters took part in our pre-season survey last summer. The result was one of our favourite pieces of content of the year: a supporter-led preview of every club in the EFL.

Now we’re doing it all again.

This time, we’re aiming to break four figures. The survey closes on Monday 3 August, so please, if you can, complete it right away.

We’ll turn the results into a series of graphics and articles covering all 72 clubs before the opening weekend, giving the best overview in the universe of how supporters across the EFL are feeling ahead of the new season.

The more supporters we hear from, the better the picture becomes.

Please take five minutes to complete the survey and, if you can, share it with fellow supporters. A quick post in a fan forum, Facebook group or WhatsApp chat could make a huge difference in helping us reach supporters from every club.

Thank you.

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Notts County may be the oldest club in the EFL, but 15 miles up the road is the oldest team, Mansfield Town, and they’re getting older this summer.

Per FBref, Mansfield’s average player age last season (weighted by minutes played rather than total squad age) was 28.9 years old. The previous season it was 30.1, the only instance I can find of an average player age over 30 in the last decade of EFL football, a period that covers 720 squads.

In that time period, Darren Moore’s Sheffield Wednesday and Gareth Ainsworth’s Wycombe are the main Dad’s Army contenders, but Nigel Clough’s Stags are a cut above. They are currently rivalled by League One newcomers MK Dons, whose average age last season was actually a touch higher at 29.1. However, Mansfield’s summer signings so far include David McGoldrick, 38, and Michael Smith, 34, and their expected game-time will raise the average age significantly, unlike MK’s four signings so far: 29, 29, 30 and 30.

Look, I know average age numbers aren’t that sexy to most people, so let’s break this down in other ways. Mansfield’s current first-team squad of 22 contains:

• 12 players aged 30 or over (55%)

• 18 players aged 27 or over (82%)

• Three players 26 or under (14%)

• The youngest player, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, is 24.

This week, target man Smith (34), formerly of Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday and most recently Preston, joined Clough’s five-man striking unit as the third youngest. Will Evans (29) and Rhys Oates (31) are the whippersnappers, David McGoldrick (38) and Lucas Akins (37) the elders.

Mansfield have been the oldest team in their division for the last four completed seasons, so this isn’t something new, nor is it a random coincidence - we’re in clear, targeted strategy territory.

Is it a good strategy, and for how long can it last?

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Matt Watts

West Ham went south, fast. A Europa Conference League triumph in 2022/23. A top-half Premier League finish in 2023/24. Relegated two years later amid a toxic atmosphere. The team with the second-highest average attendance in the country (62,455) are in the Championship for the first time in 15 years.

So, just how bad is the hangover? There’s no time to moan and groan: West Ham are strong favourites to win the division, and have to justify that.

It’s been a summer of change in East London. Off the pitch, Karren Brady and David Sullivan are out, and Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is now the majority shareholder. Head of Recruitment Maximilian Hahn is also out, and Director of Player Recruitment Nils Koppen is in.

There is managerial continuity, however. Nuno Espírito Santo is staying on, and he has now been joined at the London Stadium by his long-term assistant, Rui Pedro Silva.

While there’s seemingly positive news in the boardroom and the dugout, the bad news for West Ham fans is that the transition from the Premier League to the Championship can be painful – especially when a potential relegation hasn’t been accounted for. Even a single season in the second tier will leave a gaping hole in the Hammers’ already-porous finances, without some cloth-cutting. The headline from their latest accounts was a net loss before tax of £104.2m in 2024/25.

That was in the Premier League. The reality now? TV money: down. Prize money: down. Sponsorship and commercial income: down. Matchday revenue: down.

West Ham need to generate income and they need to cut costs. The best way to do that is by selling players and getting them off the wage bill. However, it’s also imperative that the Irons return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. One season out of the big time is bad – two or three could be catastrophic. The best way to do that? Have the best possible players. That’s the balance to find.

On top of that, supporters won’t just expect West Ham to win – they will expect them to win well. And, frankly, they deserve to be entertained, especially having traded the great Upton Park for a soulless bowl of a stadium. It’s time to see a bit of ‘The West Ham Way’.

For the first time in the NTT20 era, West Ham are an EFL outfit, and our coverage of this historic club starts here: Rebuilding West Ham.

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The squad

Here’s our breakdown of the current West Ham squad:

As is always the way with relegation Premier League sides, it looks big, and you can find some names that feel out of place in the second tier of any nation.

But if you scratch beneath the surface, you can split the current squad of 29 in a way that only highlights the uncertainty around the playing squad at this stage:

• There are 15 players over the age of 22, and a large proportion of them are either completely out of favour, guaranteed to leave (or want to leave), or both. They include Alphonse Areola, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo, James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, Crysencio Summerville, Maxwel Cornet and Niclas Füllkrug. There isn’t an existing, dependable, culture-setting ‘leadership group’, which is a concern.

• There are 14 players aged 22 or under. This group has one successful – and expensive – signing from overseas (El Hadji Malick Diouf), some thus-far-unsuccessful signings from overseas (Soungoutou Magassa, Mohamadou Kante, Pablo, Keiber Lamadrid) and a chunk of talented, but yet to be fully trusted, academy graduates (Kaelan Casey, Oliver Scarles, Freddie Potts, George Earthy, Callum Marshall).

Who has gone, and who is likely to follow?

Reports suggest that West Ham need to sell £150m worth of talent this summer, so getting a whopping £85m from Tottenham for Mateus Fernandes was a good start.

To fill the rest of the ~£65m hole, there are a few obvious candidates to depart, headed up by Crysencio Summerville. The 24-year-old Dutch international looked electric at the World Cup, and with a number of reported suitors, including Manchester United and Roma, he seems likely to command a significant fee.

Player of the Season Konstantinos Mavropanos improved significantly under Nuno and has been heavily linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund. Fellow centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo also looks set to move on. The Frenchman took issue with being substituted in the 26th minute of a 3-1 defeat to Newcastle in May and, during a heated exchange, informed Nuno that he would not play for him again. Todibo was not included in the matchday squad for the final game of last season.

Edson Alvarez – last seen playing against England at the Azteca – is unlikely to stay in East London. The Mexican spent last season on loan at Fenerbahçe, although they opted against turning the loan into a permanent deal. Taty Castellanos won’t be short of interest after he scored six goals in less than 1400 minutes during the second half of last season. Hammers fans will no doubt be desperate to keep hold of the Argentinian, who showed he was up for the fight in their ultimately unsuccessful relegation battle, but those qualities will also make him appealing to top-flight clubs.

As for others surely looking for a way out: Maxwel Cornet (remember him?) is expected to leave, either on loan again or on a permanent basis. Alphonse Areola is surely off, after losing the No.1 jersey last season. James Ward-Prowse is another player who has a strained relationship with Nuno and looks set for pastures new.

And then there’s Niclas Füllkrug.

The Irons signed the German striker for £27m two summers ago, but he looks a busted flush. After struggling to cut the mustard in the Premier League, Füllkrug failed to impress in Serie A, either, scoring once in 20 league appearances for Milan last season. Yet, at 33, he still has two years left on his West Ham deal, which is reportedly worth £90,000 per week.

Who’s staying?

Jarrod Bowen. Jarrod Bowen. Jarrod Bowen. The Herefordshire boy, who has become the Prince of West Ham, signed a revised contract last week to commit his future to the club.

Jarrod Bowen in the Championship! A 29-year-old England international, who could easily have been named in the semi-finalists’ World Cup squad. A player who has recorded 20+ direct goal involvements in four of the last five Premier League seasons, having previously scored 52 goals in two and a half seasons at this level with Hull City. Nice.

Mads Hermansen arrived last summer, lost the gloves to Alphonse Areola in September after conceding 11 goals in four matches, then took them back in February and kept six clean sheets in 14 league appearances. The Dane’s underlying numbers last season were pretty poor, but at 26 he has time on his side. Plus, after consecutive relegations from the Premier League with Leicester and then West Ham, he’s due another crack at the Championship.

At right back, I would be inclined to keep both of the double-barrelled boys, Kyle Walker-Peters and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. While AWB underwhelmed last season, his first season at the club shouldn’t be forgotten. KWP’s experience and versatility make him an incredibly useful squad player.

Central defence is a key area for major surgery. If Mavropanos and Todibo both move on, then I would hang on to Max Kilman. The 29-year-old has done very little to justify the £40m spent on him a couple of years ago, but a season in the Championship could kickstart his career again. I’m a great believer that, sometimes, you have to go back in order to move forward. I would also make a case for Kaelan Casey and Ezra Mayers to be kept in the building for 2026/27.

At left-back, there will be strong interest in El Hadji Malick Diouf, but I would be loath to let him go. The 21-year-old had a perfectly respectable, if inconsistent, first season in England, and he has the potential to tear up the Championship. Like Casey and Mayers, there might be an argument to loan out Ollie Scarles, but I would keep him as Diouf’s understudy. The 20-year-old acquitted himself well against Premier League opposition when the Senegalese international was away at the African Cup of Nations.

In central midfield, after the departure of Mateus Fernandes, I would be looking to retain the services of Tomas Soucek, Soungoutou Magassa, Mohamadou Kante and Freddie Potts. Soucek – still only 31 – has one year remaining on his current deal (with the option of a further year) and his experience and physicality could be vital.

Magassa and Kante, who joined from Monaco and Paris FC respectively, have the potential to kick on. The former could nail down a spot in the middle of the park, now Fernandes has left. Several Ligue 1 clubs have shown an interest in Kante, 20, but Nuno has said he’d be unwilling to sell the young Parisian, who has been compared to a young Patrick Vieira. Finally, Potts has already shown in flashes what he is capable of – see his Man of the Match performance against Newcastle last November – and he has Championship experience, having spent 2024/25 on loan at Portsmouth.

As with a few of the other homegrown young players, West Ham’s relegation could be an opportunity for Potts to flourish. After all, you can’t call yourselves ‘The Academy of Football’ if you don’t give at least some of your young talents the opportunity to establish themselves, now that you aren’t playing against Arsenal, Manchester City and the like each week. Even so, this is an area that could use a big-name signing – a bona fide star.

On the left, Keiber Lamadrid’s loan move has been made permanent, reportedly on a five-year deal with an option for a further two. The 22-year-old Venezuelan winger could be another beneficiary of the Hammers’ relegation.

As for the forwards, if Taty Castellanos does indeed leave and the Irons can find someone to take Niclas Füllkrug off their hands, then that would leave Callum Marshall and potentially Pablo as their only striking options. Like so many before him, Marshall has an excellent pedigree at youth level, but he has yet to hit the heights in first team football. The 15-cap Northern Ireland international still has time, at 21, but needs to make his mark soon.

Pablo, often used as a second striker, failed to score in 17 appearances following his January move from Gil Vicente. He has at least four years left on his contract, so West Ham will hope the 22-year-old finds the second tier more to his liking.

What do West Ham need this summer?

By my reckoning, West Ham need a goalkeeper, two centre-backs (minimum), a central midfielder, two wingers (minimum), a No.10 and two strikers. If the players I expect to leave do indeed go, then Nuno and Nils should have a bit of money to spend, but we certainly won’t ignore the free agent or loan markets.

Let’s get to work!

Goalkeeper

We can afford to bring in an experienced free agent to compete with Hermansen for the No.1 jersey. Nikola Vasilj? Stefan Ortega? Mat Ryan? Take your pick.

Central defence

If we’re bringing in a couple of centre-backs, I would like at least one of them to have recent Championship experience. Christoph Klarer would be a fantastic addition – good on the ball, dominant in the air, and a leader in the dressing room – but trying to get him out of Birmingham would be a difficult deal to do.

Max Alleyne would be at the top of my list if Manchester City are open to sending him on loan to the Championship again. The 20-year-old enjoyed a successful spell at Watford last season, which had to be cut short due to an injury crisis at City.

I asked the good people at GBE Expert Hub about young players who impressed in Portugal last season (it’s Nuno’s homeland, after all) and Bastien Meupiyou piqued my interest. Meupiyou is a 6ft3in left-sided centre back who made 30 appearances last season for Alverca in the Primeira Liga. He’s 20 and still very raw, but he has a lot of potential. The defender also spent the 2024/25 season at Wolves (obviously), so Nuno and his assistant, Rui Pedro Silva, will be aware of him.

Axel Tuanzebe on a free transfer would be good business. Hull appear to have a headstart on us there, though. Adam Webster is a tempting free agent but, given his recent injury woes, I think we’ll pass.

Central midfield

So far this summer, West Ham have been linked with Sydie Peck of Sheffield United and Josh Mulligan of Hibs. While I could absolutely see Peck in the famous claret and blue, I’m not convinced he’s the profile the side needs. When facing West Ham, opposition teams are going to sit back and give up possession, so we’re looking for someone who can put their foot on the ball and dictate play. Someone like Rúben Neves.

That’s right. I said Rúben Neves.

It may be farfetched but, given his history with Nuno, it’s worth a call at the very least. The 29-year-old has spent the last three years playing for Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia; he has ‘secured the bag’, but it’s been a while since he played at a high level. Playing for a top Championship side in London under his former boss could appeal. Will it happen? Probably not – but worth a try.

Wingers/wide attackers

West Ham have been linked with a host of wingers already. Abdul Fatawu, James McAtee, Amario Cozier-Duberry and Nestory Irankunda have all been mentioned as potential targets. As Dani and Danny have been successful in convincing Jarrod to stay, there can’t be too much of the budget spent on another right-sided wide attacker; however, Amario Cozier-Duberry is a very different profile to Bowen, he shouldn’t cost the earth, and he has plenty of room for development (and, therefore, potential profit).

Moving over to the left, Summerville could be difficult to replace. But, with Diouf marauding forward from full-back, a skilful inverted winger or inside forward who can cut in and cause chaos in the half-space could create a pretty lethal combination.

Step forward, Léo Scienza.

As with Christoph Klarer, it would be a difficult deal to do, but Scienza’s profile, combined with his very recent Championship experience, makes him incredibly appealing. Although he turns 28 in September, so there won’t be much in the way of sell-on value, the little Brazilian has magic in his boots. The prospect of Diouf and Scienza attacking down the left, with Bowen coming in off the right, is enough to make the mouth water.

#10

While the idea of Pablo continuing in his role as a second striker isn’t out of the question, West Ham might need a more traditional No.10 to help them break down low blocks in the Championship. Going back to Portugal, Famalicao’s Gustavo Sá is popular with those in the know at GBE Expert Hub. The 21-year-old’s return of four goals and two assists in the league last season doesn’t jump off the page, but his underlying numbers were very good and he shouldn’t have any issues with the physicality of the Championship.

Given Nils Koppen’s recent spell in Denmark, a move for Viborg midfielder Thomas Jørgensen would be something I could get behind. Despite wearing the No.10 shirt and doing his best work in the final third, though, the talented 20-year-old is more accustomed to playing as an offensively-minded member of a midfield three.

Striker

In recent years, the Irons’ sketchy record in the transfer market has been especially poor when it comes to recruiting strikers – the odd hit, yes, but plenty of misses. Wilson Isidor’s name cropped up earlier in the summer. The 25-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at Sunderland and his performances for the Black Cats in the Championship a couple of seasons ago would make him an attractive proposition.

Jovon Makama was incredibly impressive for Norwich last season, scoring 13 goals in all competitions before a broken bone in his foot ended his campaign in early February. Aged 22, standing at 6ft5in and offering a direct threat through the middle or on the right, Makama ticks a lot of boxes for us. He also feels like a player who could grow with West Ham. The former Lincoln man isn’t Premier League-ready just yet, but he could be if he has another strong season in the Championship.

If the pot is a little empty and we can’t fork out for two strikers, then a loan deal for Chelsea’s Shim Mheuka could work for all parties. The 18-year-old hasn’t played a great deal of first-team football, but he was prolific in PL2 last season, has starred for England Under-19s, and has an incredibly high ceiling.

Senegalese striker Bamba Dieng is a free agent after leaving Lorient. The 26-year-old scored 10 goals in Ligue 1 last season despite playing only 1,220 minutes. In terms of other potential free transfers, Ross Stewart has plenty of upside, but his injury record would scare me off.

There are likely to be more targets from overseas than our own scouting network can identify. With the large number of outgoing players taking up plenty of budget and bandwidth, we can expect West Ham’s own additions to come late in the window. And Championship clubs beware: there’s a scenario where the Hammers focus on acquiring top second-tier talent from non-parachute clubs, which could be disruptive and distracting.

One thing seems clear: West Ham in the Championship isn’t going to be boring…

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Welcome to Done Deals, your weekly guide to every EFL transfer.

This week, it’s all about what’s caught our eye. We’re assessing Bromley’s seven-signing spree, Middlesbrough’s move for Kyle Joseph, Portsmouth’s latest overseas recruit, MK Dons’ midfield statement, Southampton’s (reported) £9m outlay on Lewis Dobbin and Leyton Orient’s exciting loan addition – plus a whirlwind tour of the EFL’s goalkeeper market and Salford City’s capture of Elliot Bonds.

• 🔗 Latest 49 deals

• 🔗 The list of every EFL signing

#1. The Bromley Seven - [Various - Bromley]

Ali Maxwell

Let’s begin with the most active team this week: League One’s debutants, Bromley. They have made seven signings since last Friday, all with a clear role in mind and making the most of one of Bromley’s recruitment edges: geography.

Summer Recruitment Objective #1: Replace any key players who have left.

The FBref table below highlights the players from last season’s League Two-winning squad who have since left the club.

The good news is that the core of this excellent Bromley team remains. Further good news is that The Bromley Seven can almost all be earmarked as direct replacements for those who have departed:

• CB: Deji Elerewe, Kyle Cameron, Jesse Debrah OUT; Chanse Headman, Deon Woodman IN

• LB/LWB: Idris Odutayo OUT; Jacob Mendy IN

• CM: Jude Arthurs OUT; Kamil Conteh IN

• AM: Ben Krauhaus OUT; Ethon Archer IN

In Shamal George, they’ve brought in a challenger to long-term No.1 Grant Smith, and in Victor Adeboyejo, a League One version of last season’s third-choice striker, Marcus Dinanga. He’ll challenge Nicke Kabamba for minutes alongside or replacing Michael Cheek.

It was in February, after the signings of Zech Medley and Jesse Debrah, that we first clocked Bromley’s transfer strategy: bringing ‘home’ players from London or the surrounding areas who have found themselves playing elsewhere in the country. And they’re quadrupling down: every single one of the seven signings is returning to London or its environs, having either been born, grown up, or spent their early career there.

And finally, we can’t ignore the aerial titans of Bromley signing a player called Headman. The cheek of it…

#2. Kyle Joseph (RW/LW/ST) - [Hull - Middlesbrough] - Undisclosed

Sam Parry

Kyle Joseph missed Hull City’s play-off final victory over Middlesbrough at Wembley after suffering an injury in the semi-final (one we’re not sure he has recovered from). There is a certain irony in Boro borrowing a player from the side that denied them promotion.

What makes the transfer particularly interesting, though, is that Joseph does not instinctively feel like an obvious Kim Hellberg signing. Earlier this summer, LouOrns outlined the qualities that might define the ideal versatile forward in a Hellberg side:

• Natural intensity

• Comfort in wide and central areas

• Playmaking tendencies

• Strong dribbling ability

He also identified several key attributes for a Hellberg winger:

• Pace

• Comfort receiving centrally and out wide

• Dribbling ability

• A knack for arriving at the back post

Joseph sits somewhere between those two profiles. He is certainly versatile. During the 2025/26 season, he started 11 matches as a centre-forward for Hull, nine from the left wing, and seven from the right. However, he is not a natural playmaker; he doesn’t squeeze himself out of tight spaces; he won’t repeatedly beat his defender; nor does he possess explosive pace (although he is no slouch).

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Howdee

Sam Parry: The summer transfer window is the Wild West: sun blazing, clubs scrambling and targets disappearing over the horizon before anyone can say “draw”.

We’ve already lassoed four correct calls from our first scouting bulletin. Now we’re heading back out on the trail, this time in search of the EFL and National League’s best temporary guns for hire.

Or, to put it another way, we’re going full Lone Ranger—well, more loan arranger.

Today, we’re looking at 5 players who thrived away from their parent clubs last season, assessing what made their loan spells work and identifying where they could ride out to next.

The rules of the territory are simple:

• The player must have spent at least part of last season on loan at an EFL or National League club.

• Their likeliest next move must be another loan, rather than a permanent transfer.

Amario Cozier-Duberry (RW), Brighton

George Elek

First loans are tough, so they can often be discarded, and Amario Cozier-Dubbery left a disappointing spell at Blackburn well behind him as he helped to return Bolton to the second tier of English football last season. ACD was, for my money, the best player in League One when fit.

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Ali Maxwell

Having spent seven seasons out of ten in the Championship between 2014 and 2024, Rotherham United have suffered two relegations in three seasons and find themselves in League Two for the first time in thirteen years. Life comes at you fast.

In the last 50 completed seasons, Rotherham have only been in the fourth tier for 11, compared to 26 in the third tier, and 13 in the second. In fact, the Millers have been promoted from the fourth tier in five of their last 13 attempts, a strong record. Their fans may feel that League Two is ‘beneath their level’, and you can understand why. They’re a well-supported club for League Two: last season’s average attendance of 8,500 would place them towards the top of the attendance list. The bookmakers have listed them among the eight most likely teams to win the division.

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These facts and circumstances may lead to an expectation that Rotherham should be a strong side at the level, with promotion the clear objective. The reality, in mid-July, is that they need a rebuild good enough to arrest a slide before dreaming of anything loftier. Of the last 16 teams relegated from League One to League Two, 13 have finished in the bottom half. There’s no natural buoyancy aid when splashing into League Two, and most teams find it tough.

How did the last 16 relegation clubs fare?

Personnel

At the time of publishing, our squad spreadsheet gives the Millers a squad of just 15 ‘senior players’, although of those, six are aged 22 or under. The only goalkeeper, Ted Cann, was last season’s back-up. The star name, striker Sam Nombe, is expected to depart, and Denzel Hall may well follow him out the door. Only four of the current squad, Nombe excluded, were key first-team players when fit last season – Hall, Joe Rafferty, Ar’jany Martha and Kian Spence – and nine of the 13 squad members who played the most minutes in 2025/26 have departed.

There’s a lot of work to do, and the job at hand is not lost on those in charge. “We’re building a football club” is being repeated by Head of Football Steve McClaren, who was appointed to the newly-created role at the end of May. Rob Scott has been at Rotherham since 2017 – he has been Head of Recruitment and Director of Football, and now appears to have the unusual title, Director of Football Recruitment. He’s the foreman of this rebuild. In the dugout will be Alex Bruce, who had a four-month stint as manager of Macclesfield before spending the last two years as a first-team coach and assistant manager at Salford City, supporting Karl Robinson last season.

Without much evidence from previous jobs, trying to work out Bruce’s likely tactical plan is difficult. McClaren and Bruce’s interviews have been almost exclusively about the importance of culture – looking for the “right characters” – and robustness, with last term’s absurd injury crisis clearly leaving a scar on the club. Bruce said that he expects “blood and thunder” and that he wants a hard-working, physical, intense team that is difficult to play against. In their first pre-season friendly, Rotherham set up in a 4-4-2 formation, but the paucity of players available means that should be taken with a pinch of salt, rather than a sign of a concrete tactical plan.

What does it take to win in League Two? Last season’s top teams – Bromley, MK Dons and Cambridge – were packed full of experience, size and defensive capability. Winning duel after duel, match after match, week after week, month after month – that is what defined those sides more than any technical aspects.

Based on the current squad, there’s a ton of work to do if Rotherham are going to get anywhere near replicating what those sides did.

Budget

Here’s the good news: Rotherham should have the funds to get good-quality players in. As reported by the Rotherham Advertiser, their 2025-26 budget was believed to be around £5.5 million, the 15th-highest in League One. That will likely be reduced upon relegation, but our educated guess has the Millers in the top seven of League Two in budgetary terms, and given the current thinness and youthfulness of the current squad, there should still be plenty available to spend.

Fetching fees for Nombe and Hall would also add to the kitty. Between the two of them, Rotherham should make over £1m and potentially closer to £2m, which goes a long way in League Two.

Done Deals

So far, Rotherham have added four players: Aaron Nemane, Fabio Tavares, Ossama Ashley and Jamie Jellis.

Both Ashley and Jellis were among League Two’s best central midfielders in 2024/25 before regressing last year. Ashley struggled with various injuries, while Jellis’ fortunes moved in line with Walsall’s – the dynamism, energy and positivity of 24/25 petered out hard in 25/26. Both players might have expected to be in League One by now, were it not for those setbacks. A midfield three with a fully fit Ossama Ashley at the base and Jellis and Kian Spence as box-to-box #8s looks very good on paper; it’s the only area of the pitch that currently looks strong, albeit without much depth.

Tavares is a lively attacker. Coventry had high hopes for him, but he never broke through in four and a half years. That Burton Albion were happy to release him, after a season of four goals in 900 minutes, suggests League Two may finally be the correct level for the 25-year-old to find a key role for the first time.

The speedy Aaron Nemane has spent the last four seasons playing as a wing-back for Notts County and MK Dons, having initially been a winger. He’s a good squad option, though probably not a ceiling-raiser.

Rotherham have an interesting group of six young players, all aged between 21 and 22, who have shown interesting attributes if not consistent performance, in Ar’jany Martha, Emmanuel Adegboyega, Lenny Agbaire, Marvin Kaleta, Brandon Cover and Hamish Douglas. Individually, any one of them could look good at League Two level. But to what extent do McClaren, Scott and Bruce want to rely on players in this demographic? If they want to make a team with a robust, physical, injury-resistant, blood-and-thunder playing style, there’s plenty more needed, particularly in the spine of the team and in terms of experienced or peak-age players.

Rotherham have actually been one of the more successful League One or Two teams when it comes to signing and integrating players from abroad, particularly Benelux nations. Even in a poor 2025/26 campaign for the club, the signings of Denzel Hall from Heerenveen and Ar’jany Martha from Beerschot have to be viewed positively in terms of talent ID, deal-making and first-team contribution, particularly in the context of other overseas signings in Leagues One and Two.

Both players required an ESC slot, but both have been ‘converted’ due to game-time, so Rotherham do have more ESC slots available. Dropping a division likely makes the pool of realistic targets shallower, and ESC slots can now only be used on Under-23 players, but it would be good to see Rotherham cast their net wide… especially with Steve McClaren’s Eredivisie-winning pedigree!

Squad

We’ll finish with a whizz through the squad with positional and profile needs, and a few suggested signings. Please note: based on my estimation of the budget and the four signings made so far, I am assuming that Rotherham have the ability to offer very competitive League Two wages for free agents.

GK

Ted Cann played the last 15 games of the season and did fine, but he joined as a back-up and those were the 25-year-old’s first ever EFL appearances. A dependable, senior goalkeeper will surely be sought.

Free agent Max Thompson (21), formerly of Newcastle with loans at Northampton and Chesterfield, is on trial. Fin Herrick (20) of West Ham could be an option, as could Elyh Harrison (20) at Manchester United, with McClaren and Bruce having contacts there. Corey Addai (28) could be an interesting option, and probably available after Stockport’s signing of Ollie Whatmuff. Myles Roberts (24) had a good season with Walsall and has been released by Watford. Then there are the experienced types: Lee Burge (33) and Marko Marosi (32), among others.

CB

You cannot be serious about challenging in League Two if you go into the season with Joe Rafferty as your only defender over the age of 22.

There is a world in which Adegboyega and Agbaire play plenty of minutes and look more than comfortable at the level, or in which academy graduate Hamish Douglas grows into a first-teamer, but there are plenty of other outcomes that see Rotherham looking just as shambolic at the back as they did last season. This is perhaps the most crucial area of the pitch to get right, and two or three central defensive signings are surely needed. I would expect these to tick some or all of the following boxes: tall, strong, aerially dominant, experienced.

As for targets, I’ll start with some grizzled, aerially-comfortable types. Tom Lees (35), come on down. Ben Heneghan (32), are you up for it? Jordan Thorniley (29), fancy a move closer to home?

Joe Lewis, still only 26, is an ambitious target that I like a lot for Rotherham. The Millers can likely offer far more than Wimbledon are able to, and he should thrive with the responsibility of being at the heart of the defence. Can Marc Roberts, released by Barnsley and turning 36 in a couple of weeks, handle a full season of leadership at the back? Would Rotherham offer Accrington what they want for 30-year-old Farrend Rawson? Or perhaps they could test the recently-relegated pair of Harrogate and Barrow for their experienced heads, Anthony O’Connor and Charlie Raglan, both 33.

There are currently no left-footed defenders. In fact, there’s barely a left peg in the whole squad. For balance purposes, that should be addressed. Shadrach Ogie (24) or Josh Flint (25) would be decent options on free transfers, both a good age and with good attributes if Alex Bruce can get a tune out of them.

He’s not a left-footer, but Lewis Montsma is another player worth mentioning. The 28-year-old has had absurdly bad luck with injuries, limiting him to 20 league starts in four years, but any return to his level from 2020 to 2022 would make him a good fit.

Finally, Jake Rooney (23) has been released by Derby and is probably worth a punt as a freebie for a League Two side.

FB/WB

Without knowing what shape Alex Bruce is planning to play, it’s hard to say what Rotherham will do here. There are currently no full-backs other than Denzel Hall and, at a push, Joe Rafferty. If they play three-at-the-back, then Hall, Nemane, Cover, Kaleta and Martha would be an incredibly attacking set of wing-backs to enter the season with – there’d be plenty of reasons to be excited about them going forward, but concerns around robustness and defensive zeal.

So, this area of the pitch needs addressing, particularly at LB/LWB. Former Brighton and Hull City youngster James Furlong (24) has been on trial, as has former Manchester United full-back Brandon Williams (25). One that makes a lot of sense would be Stockport’s Ryan Rydel, who is 25. Potential loanees could be Ethan Sutherland (20) from Wolves or Jon Esenga (19) from Fulham.

CM

Jamie Jellis and Ossama Ashley have entered the building to join a midfield squadron with Kian Spence and Brandon Cover, who can play RWB or in defensive midfield. Rotherham will surely look for more experience in this midfield area, particularly someone who can control a game from deep – someone like Lee Evans (31), for example.

Ben Close would be another option. The 29-year-old has recently been released by nearby Doncaster. Or, with MK Dons loading up on central midfielders, how about asking Liam Kelly (30) to stay in League Two and dictate things? A younger option would be Charlie Crew of Leeds, 10 years Kelly’s junior. Clarke Oduor (27) is a versatile left-footer who’d provide some value to the squad, as would Jay Mingi (25).

Jack Evans, recently relegated with Harrogate, would be high on my shopping list if I were Rotherham. The 25-year-old was able to stand out in a struggling team in his first season at the level. The Millers should be able to spend fees, particularly if and when Sam Nombe is sold, and this is exactly the sort of signing they should be making.

AM/W

There’s very little in the existing squad in these areas – just Marvin Kaleta, who has been hit and miss in a Millers shirt up, and Ar’jany Martha, who may not fancy League Two, having spent the two seasons prior to joining Rotherham playing (sparingly) in the Eredivisie and the Belgian Pro League.

In order to avoid waste in the squad spend, the likely team shape plays an important role here. If Alex Bruce is going to play a formation with wing-backs, there’s little point in splashing out on three or four winger types.

I’m a big fan of Reece Smith from Harrogate, and would recommend him to any League Two club. At 24, Smith is an energetic attacking midfielder who can impact the game in different ways and in any attacking midfield or wide role, so – depending on the asking price – he would be an asset to the squad. Ellis Taylor, 23 and also at Harrogate, is more of a classic winger than Smith but absolutely worth a punt for a League Two team.

ST

This should be a big focus for the recruitment team. With Nombe surely on his way out, Rotherham just have Fabio Tavares up top at this moment in time. If they’re to personify a classic Rotherham ’blood and thunder’ team, they need a focal point – a Michael Smith, a Jordan Hugill.

There’s been reported interest in Dajaune Brown at Derby in the past, and this could be a good time to snag the 20-year-old after he had a poor loan spell with Port Vale. Aaron Loupalo-Bi, also 20, is another loan option. Michael Mellon (22) seems to be available.

These are potentially good options, but not the focal point profile we’re after. You wonder if free agent Will Keane (33) might drop into League Two, but again we’re lacking dynamism. How about 22-year-old Samson Tovide, who is expected to leave Colchester but whose injury issues have scuppered moves to League One in the past? Any other realistic target man suggestions, please drop them in the comments!

There’s plenty of opportunity for Rotherham, who have big gaps in the squad and – we think – a decent budget to work with. What will Scott, McClaren and Bruce put together? The answer to that will dictate whether the Millers challenge for promotion, as expected by many, or struggle in the League One relegation quicksand.

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Welcome to Done Deals, catching you up on all transfers completed since last Friday, with a special focus on the deals that caught the eyes of the NTT20.COM team.

• 🔗 Latest 51 deals

• 🔗 The list of all 256 EFL signings

There is a canine theme to this bulletin, for no particular reason. Our write-ups are going to cover a selection of EFL transfer ‘breeds’.

Big Dogs

Macaulay Langstaff (ST) - [Millwall - Salford] - Undisclosed

Huw Davies

Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the… room. In this new world of squad cost ratios and reducing the reliance on owner investment, Salford City do not have an obvious source of significant organic income. Yet it’s without doubt that Macaulay Langstaff is, at the very least, one of the most expensive signings in League Two history. He is likely to have cost a transfer fee in the high six-figure range and close to £10,000 per week in wages, two probable records if so. It’s a lot.

Now for the good news. Langstaff is still in his twenties. He scored 28 goals in a single League Two season – his first EFL season, in fact – as recently as 2023/24. He works hard, on the pitch and in training. He’s easily good enough for League One, but having skipped a level in jumping from League Two to the Championship, he has skipped it coming down as well.

You must create a goalscoring environment for him. Salford, though, have hired an attack-minded manager in Peter Cklamovski (a former Ange Postecoglou assistant), who comes into a club that created the fourth-most xG in League Two last season. They made the third-most Opta-defined big chances but scored only the 11th-most goals, which is where Langstaff comes in. Ryan Graydon, who was signed in January, was the chief culprit: 25 big chances missed across 2025/26, with Fleetwood and then with Salford, five more than any other player in the division.

Graydon is an interesting factor here. Having signed the Irishman after he’d contributed eight goals and three assists in 1,600 minutes (17.8 90s) playing up front for Fleetwood, Karl Robinson persisted with his new man during a goal drought before moving him to the right wing in the final weeks, to little benefit. Cklamovski favoured 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 formations with Malaysia and in the J-League, neither of which cater for two strikers. Does Langstaff’s arrival mean Graydon will be moved to the sideline again, or sidelined altogether?

Salford have also signed Abraham Odoh, a speedy inside forward, and still have Dan Udoh and Kallum Cesay. Langstaff is an upgrade, for certain, and if Cklamovski comes through on his promise of attacking football, he could score a lot of goals. It’ll be important, though, to find the right balance between Langstaff and two of Graydon, Cesay, Udoh and Odoh, plus any more new signings to come.

Dan Barlaser (CM) - [Middlesbrough - MK Dons] - Free

Sam Parry

It’s fair to say that a big part of correctly calling Dan Barlaser to MK Dons in our scouting piece earlier in summer was down to the manager. Of Paul Warne’s previous charges, Barlaser ranks eighth on the list of players used most often in his managerial career, just behind Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Ben Wiles – both also at MK Dons, both big dogs at League Two level last season. With MK hunting a double promotion, does Barlaser fit into the territory of an ambitious signing? A needle-mover? A big dog in League One?

The answer – “yes” – comes with the caveat that, at 29, Barlaser isn’t the player he once was. Some of that is down to performances, some to legs, some to a lack of minutes, and some to the role he has been asked to play. It doesn’t have to mean a regression, but he simply hasn’t added goals and assists in the way he once did:

• 18/19 (Accrington, L1): 45 apps, 3 goals, 2 assists

• 19/20 (Rotherham, L1): 35 apps, 2 goals, 5 assists

• 20/21 (Rotherham, CH): 34 apps, 3 goals, 4 assists

• 21/22 (Rotherham, L1): 52 apps, 9 goals, 10 assists

• 22/23 (Rotherham, CH): 31 apps, 2 goals, 7 assists

• 22/23 (Middlesbrough, CH): 12 apps, 0 goals, 1 assist

• 23/24 (Middlesbrough, CH): 41 apps, 0 goals, 5 assists

• 24/25 (Middlesbrough, CH): 26 apps, 1 goal, 1 assist

• 25/26 (Hibernian, SP): 37 apps, 0 goals, 3 assists

We’re not too concerned about that. Barlaser’s role in a Warne midfield will be all about getting the ball into dangerous areas. Get it forward. Get it wide. He has the long pass locked down, and that range enables him to hit feet and runners. Even last term, when Hibs fans didn’t exactly fall in love with their loanee, he still produced four accurate long balls per game. That’ll do it in League One, too.

When you look at how MK set up at times last season, in a 3-1-4-2, you can see how there’s a ready-made fit, either into what was Liam Kelly’s role or into a midfield two. Compared to Kelly, Barlaser’s that bit bigger, that bit more assertive in games, and will be playing under a manager who has got the best out of him before. It all makes sense, and those are the signings that can hit the ground running.

Kasey Palmer (AM) - [Hull - Luton] - Undisclosed

Sam Parry

Another sense-maker and another return, but this time of a more classic variety in that “home” reflects a roof, and not just a manager he’s played under before.

It doesn’t always pay to fall in love with a loanee. This time, it does. Palmer made a real impression on Luton fans during the second half of last season and – make no bones about it – this is huge for Jack Wilshere.

The Hatters turned in a lot of beige performances in 2025/26. Things didn’t always seem to tick. At their least anaemic and most colourful, Palmer tended to be involved, giving them a late-season boost that nearly clinched them the final play-off spot.

A huge part of that was down to his knack for linking play. He’s calm when collecting the ball under pressure and moving it on, and he helps to knit it all together. And, crucially, Luton don’t have to replace that profile anymore. That’s a big recruitment headache-soother.

What else did he bring last season? G-O-A-L-S.

After playing for seven different Championship clubs, the 29-year-old has found a new-old home where he should be technically above the level and ready to thrive. Palmer will fit like an old slipper into Wilshere’s system, and if he can produce anything close to the level that saw him score eight goals in the final 11 games of last season, then Luton are onto a familiar winner.

Alfie Devine (AM) - [Tottenham - Preston] - Undisclosed (reported £6m)

Huw Davies

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… are giving us another dramatic summer. George and I are having a tremendous time making The England Pod with Dave Walker, and we hope you’re enjoying it too.

I’ve done so much talking in the last few weeks, that it’s time for some writing. Or, erm, typing. Thank you for your questions, which include:

• Which clubs would make the perfect Championship for NTT20?

• If football disappeared tomorrow, which sport would we cover instead?

• Bucket list football stadiums

• Should elite academy players be forced out on loan?

• The EFL clubs who’ve impressed us most in the transfer market.

• Why can Portsmouth suddenly afford £5m signings?

• The League Two goalkeepers still available on the market.

Read more

You are about to gorge yourselves on every completed signing in the EFL summer window so far. As you prepare to dive in, I’d like to mention our pre-window content in case any of it has passed you by.

We’ve scouted Brits abroad, League One strikers, National League talents and free agents. We’ve written up ‘rebuilds’ of Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough. And we’ve written up our ten favourite deals done so far.

In Sam Parry’s free agents piece, he has already nailed the ‘sweet spot’ destination for three players: George Johnston (Luton), Ilmari Niskanen (Blackpool), Evan Weir (Peterborough). Zech Medley and Terry Taylor landed in the right ballpark, if not at the exact clubs suggested. In Ryan Deeney’s National League piece, two of the three players scouted have since signed for League Two clubs — Edon Pruti for Grimsby Town, Ryan’s ‘ceiling’ suggestion, and Keenan Appiah-Forson for Oldham Athletic. From our League One strikers piece, David McGoldrick, Alfie May and Dion Charles have already moved elsewhere in the division, while the race for headliner Dom Ballard is hotting up.

This is pleasing because we like being right, but also because in making changes to our transfer coverage this summer, we attempted to dial back the quantity in exchange for extra quality. We want our EFL transfer content to be as premium as it can be, trading on knowledge and vision rather than hope and rumour, adding value and understanding to our readers. As a team, we like spending more time on written pieces, rather than dancing to a dizzying daily tune and stretching ourselves thin.

Of course, this self-congratulation is only meaningful if you are actually enjoying reading our work. Please do leave any feedback that you have, positive or constructive, and of course any requests for future pieces.

Leave a comment

Every Done Deal in the EFL

And here’s One Big List, if you prefer:

Championship

• Jhon Solis (CM) — Girona → Birmingham (Undisc.)

• Moussa Baradji (CM) — Yverdon → Blackburn (Undisc.)

• Ben Davies (CB) — Rangers → Bolton (Free)

• Akin Famewo (CB) — Hull → Bolton (Undisc.)

• Luca Stephenson (RB/CM) — Liverpool → Bolton (Undisc.)

• David Watson (CM) — Kilmarnock → Bolton (Free)

• Sam Tickle (GK) — Wigan → Bristol City (Undisc.)

• Gibson Yah (CM) — Volendam → Bristol City (Undisc.)

• Sam Greenwood (AM) — Pogon Szczecin → Bristol City (Undisc.)

• Florentino Luis (CM) — Benfica → Burnley (Undisc.)

• Ivan Mesik (LB/CB) — Heracles → Charlton (Undisc.)

• Billy Koumetio (CB) — Dundee → Charlton (Undisc.)

• Bobby Clark (AM) — Red Bull Salzburg → Derby (Undisc.)

• Callum Elder (LB) — Derby → Lincoln (Free)

• Jenson Metcalfe (CM) — Bradford → Millwall (Undisc.)

• Tairyk Arconte (ST) — Rodez → Millwall (Undisc.)

• Bruno Alves (Bruno Alves) — Cruzeiro → Norwich (Loan)

• Sam Field (CM) — QPR → Norwich (Undisc.)

• Andre Brooks (RW) — Sheffield United → Norwich (Undisc.)

• Odin Bailey (CM/AM) — Stockport → Portsmouth (Free)

• Boy Kemper (LB) — NAC Breda → QPR (Free)

• Daniel Peretz (GK) — Bayern Munich → Southampton (Undisc.)

• George Long (GK) — Norwich → Southampton (Undisc.)

• Cyle Larin (ST) — Mallorca → Southampton (Undisc.)

• Josh Griffiths (GK) — West Brom → Stoke (Undisc.)

• Luke Graham (CB) — Dundee → Stoke (Undisc.)

• Ethan Galbraith (CM) — Swansea → Stoke (Undisc.)

• Djibril Soumaré (CM) — Braga → Stoke (Undisc.)

• Svante Ingelsson (CM) — Sheffield Wednesday → Stoke (Undisc.)

• Stephen Welsh (CB) — Celtic → Swansea (Free)

• Leo Walta (AM) — Sirius → Swansea (Undisc.)

• Moussa Yeo (WG) — Red Bull Salzburg → Swansea (Undisc.)

• Matt Ingram (GK) — Oxford → West Brom (Free)

• Barney Stewart (ST) — Falkirk → West Brom (Undisc.)

• Jimmy-Jay Morgan (ST) — Chelsea → West Brom (Undisc.)

• Keiber Lamadrid (LW) — Deportivo La Guaira → West Ham (Undisc.)

• Kieran Trippier (RB) — Newcastle → Wolves (Free)

• Raul Jimenez (ST) — Fulham → Wolves (Free)

League One

• Isaac Smith (CB) — Manchester City → Barnsley (Undisc.)

• Cameron McGeehan (AM) — Northampton → Barnsley (Free)

• Clayton Taylor (LW) — Newcastle Jets → Barnsley (Undisc.)

• Ilmari Niskanen (RWB/LWB) — Exeter → Blackpool (Free)

• Dion Charles (ST) — Huddersfield → Blackpool (Loan)

• Jon McCracken (GK) — Dundee → Bradford (Free)

• Callum Connolly (CB) — Stockport → Bradford (Free)

• Macaulay Gillesphey (CB) — Charlton → Bradford (Undisc.)

• Adam Phillips (AM) — Barnsley → Bradford (Undisc.)

• Jake Beesley (ST) — Burton → Bradford (Undisc.)

• Curtis Tilt (CB) — Bradford → Burton (Undisc.)

• Isaac Heath (LWB/LW) — Everton → Cambridge (Undisc.)

• Callum Stead (AM/ST) — Barnet → Cambridge (Free)

• Gassan Ahadme (ST) — Charlton → Cambridge (Loan)

• Tommy Simkin (GK) — Stoke → Doncaster (Loan)

• Neill Byrne (CB) — Bradford → Doncaster (Free)

• James Husband (CB/LB) — Blackpool → Doncaster (Free)

• Leon Ayinde (AM/WG) — Ipswich → Doncaster (Free)

• Francis Okoronkwo (ST) — Everton → Doncaster (Free)

• Alfie May (ST) — Huddersfield → Doncaster (Loan)

• Matty Young (GK) — Sunderland → Huddersfield (Loan)

• Ethan Brierley (CM) — Brentford → Huddersfield (Undisc.)

• Ashley Fletcher (ST) — Blackpool → Huddersfield (Free)

• Fin Stevens (RB) — St Pauli → Leyton Orient (Undisc.)

• Tony Springett (WG) — Norwich → Leyton Orient (Free)

• Armando Dobra (AM/WG) — Chesterfield → Leyton Orient (Undisc.)

• George Johnston (CB) — Bolton → Luton (Free)

• Jon Russell (CM) — Barnsley → Mansfield (Free)

• David McGoldrick (ST) — Barnsley → Mansfield (Free)

• Charlie Goode (CB) — Stevenage → MK Dons (Free)

• James Gibbons (RB/CB) — Cambridge → Notts County (Free)

• Max Sanders (CM) — Crewe → Notts County (Free)

• Darius Lipsiuc (CM) — Stoke → Notts County (Undisc.)

• Cal Roberts (RW) — Scunthorpe → Notts County (Free)

• Frankie Kent (CB) — Hearts → Oxford (Free)

• Collin Andeng-Ndi (GK) — Southend → Peterborough (Undisc.)

• Evan Weir (CB) — Walsall → Peterborough (Free)

• Tom O’Connor (CB) — Wrexham → Peterborough (Free)

• Harrison Jones (CM) — Sunderland → Peterborough (Undisc.)

• Owura Edwards (LW) — Colchester → Peterborough (Free)

• James Storer (GK) — Wolves → Plymouth (Free)

• Alex Hartridge (CB/LB) — Burton → Plymouth (Free)

• Wes Harding (RB/CB/LB) — Millwall → Plymouth (Free)

• Harvey White (CM) — Stevenage → Plymouth (Free)

• Udoka Godwin-Malife (CB) — Burton → Reading (Undisc.)

• Kyreece Lisbie (WG) — Colchester → Reading (Undisc.)

• Jacob Brown (ST) — Luton → Reading (Free)

• Ricardo Santos (CB) — Swansea → Sheffield Wednesday (Undisc.)

• Sil Swinkels (CB) — Aston Villa → Sheffield Wednesday (Undisc.)

• Jordi Liongola (RWB) — RAAL La Louviere → Sheffield Wednesday (Undisc.)

• Callum Slattery (CM) — Motherwell → Sheffield Wednesday (Free)

• Terry Taylor (CM) — Charlton → Stevenage (Free)

• Olly Sanderson (ST) — Fulham → Stevenage (Free)

• Josh Magennis (ST) — Exeter → Stevenage (Free)

• Ollie Whatmuff (GK) — Manchester City → Stockport (Loan)

• Kyron Gordon (CB) — Rochdale → Stockport (Free)

• Eoghan O’Connell (CB) — Barnsley → Stockport (Free)

• Ryan Glover (RW) — Barnet → Stockport (Undisc.)

• Connor Barrett (RB/RWB) — Walsall → Wigan (Undisc.)

• Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen (CB) — Dunfermline → Wigan (Undisc.)

• Max Power (CM) — Bradford → Wigan (Undisc.)

• Sonny Perkins (AM) — Leyton Orient → Wigan (Undisc.)

• Dan Sweeney (CB) — Stevenage → Wimbledon (Free)

• Steven Sessegnon (RWB/LWB) — Wigan → Wimbledon (Free)

• Zack Nelson (AM) — Luton → Wimbledon (Free)

• Conor Hazard (GK) — Plymouth → Wycombe (Free)

• Matt Macey (GK) — Colchester → Wycombe (Free)

League Two

• Louie Moulden (GK) — Norwich → Accrington (Loan)

• Tom Moore (CB) — Southport → Accrington (Free)

• Joe Anderson (CB) — Barrow → Accrington (Free)

• Stefan Mols (AM) — Tamworth → Accrington (Free)

• Taye Ashby-Hammond (GK) — Stevenage → Barnet (Free)

• Zac Williams (CB) — Crewe → Barnet (Free)

• Craig Farquhar (CB) — Crystal Palace → Barnet (Free)

• Brandon Comley (CM) — Walsall → Barnet (Free)

• Charlie Lakin (CM) — Walsall → Barnet (Free)

• Tom Knowles (WG) — Forest Green → Barnet (Free)

• Isiah Noel-Williams (ST) — Hemel Hempstead → Barnet (Free)

• Kofi Balmer (CB) — Motherwell → Bristol Rovers (Free)

• Ciaran Kelly (CB) — Bradford → Bristol Rovers (Free)

• Ben Purrington (CB/LB) — Cambridge → Bristol Rovers (Free)

• Tom James (RB) — Leyton Orient → Bristol Rovers (Free)

• Richie Smallwood (CM) — Tranmere → Bristol Rovers (Free)

• Tommy Leigh (CM) — Bradford → Bristol Rovers (Loan)

• Jack Aitchison (AM) — Exeter → Bristol Rovers (Free)

• Bobby Kamwa (LW) — Newport → Bristol Rovers (Free)

• Pierce Sweeney (CB) — Exeter → Cheltenham (Free)

• Joe Tomlinson (LB) — MK Dons → Cheltenham (Free)

• Charlie McCann (CM) — Barrow → Cheltenham (Undisc.)

• Jordan Shipley (CM) — Port Vale → Cheltenham (Free)

• Junior Eccleston (CB) — Sutton → Chesterfield (Undisc.)

• Jack Simpson (CB) — Leyton Orient → Chesterfield (Free)

• George McEachran (CM) — Grimsby → Chesterfield (Free)

• Sean Raggett (CB) — Rotherham → Colchester (Free)

• Jake Leake (CB/LB) — Oldham → Colchester (Free)

• Pele Arganese-McDermott (CB) — Tottenham → Crawley (Free)

• Priestley Farquharson (CB) — Walsall → Crawley (Free)

• Stephen Duke-McKenna (WG) — Harrogate → Crawley (Free)

• Luke Offord (CB) — MK Dons → Crewe (Free)

• Jordan Gibson (LW) — Doncaster → Crewe (Free)

• Gwion Edwards (RW) — Morecambe → Exeter (Free)

• Josh Gordon (ST) — Walsall → Exeter (Free)

• Danny Andrew (LB) — Exeter → Fleetwood (Free)

• Kane Thompson-Sommers (CM) — MK Dons → Fleetwood (Undisc.)

• Josh Thomas (ST) — Swansea → Fleetwood (Free)

• Liam Gordon (CB) — Motherwell → Gillingham (Free)

• Zane Albarus (CM) — Brighton → Gillingham (Free)

• Kadeem Harris (WG) — Salford → Gillingham (Free)

• James Brophy (WG) — Cambridge → Gillingham (Free)

• Will Goodwin (ST) — Oxford → Gillingham (Free)

• Edon Pruti (CB) — Sutton → Grimsby (Free)

• Joe Foulkes (RB) — Kidderminster → Grimsby (Free)

• Andy Cook (ST) — Bradford → Grimsby (Free)

• Josh Andrews (ST) — Gillingham → Grimsby (Free)

• Cameron Norman (RB) — Tranmere → Newport (Free)

• Dan Sassi (CB) — Blackpool → Newport (Free)

• Kyle Cameron (CB) — Bromley → Newport (Free)

• Harrison Biggins (CM/AM) — Shrewsbury → Newport (Free)

• Kieron Evans (CM/AM) — Eastleigh → Newport (Undisc.)

• Yahya Bamba (WG) — Forest Green → Newport (Undisc.)

• Shaquille Gwengwe (ST) — Poole → Newport (Free)

• Christian Doidge (ST) — Forest Green → Newport (Free)

• Zach Jeacock (GK) — Lincoln → Northampton (Loan)

• Janoi Donacien (RB/CB) — Chesterfield → Northampton (Free)

• James Maxwell (LB) — Doncaster → Northampton (Free)

• Logan Briggs (AM) — Leicester → Northampton (Loan)

• Harvey Saunders (ST) — Tranmere → Northampton (Free)

• Aston Wilson (GK) — Barnsley → Oldham (Free)

• Gus Scott-Morriss (RWB) — Southend → Oldham (Free)

• Oli Norburn (CM) — Notts County → Oldham (Free)

• Keenan Appiah-Forson (CM) — Southend → Oldham (Free)

• Elliott Nevitt (ST) — Cambridge → Oldham (Free)

• Jackson Smith (GK) — Barnsley → Port Vale (Undisc.)

• Jasper Moon (CB) — Burton → Port Vale (Free)

• Matthew Craig (CM) — Tottenham → Port Vale (Free)

• Kyle Dempsey (AM) — Bolton → Port Vale (Free)

• Cian Hayes (RW) — Peterborough → Rochdale (Undisc.)

• Fabio Tavares (WG/ST) — Burton → Rotherham (Free)

• Will Norris (GK) — Wycombe → Salford (Free)

• Sam Long (GK) — Bromley → Salford (Free)

• Will Aimson (CB) — Wigan → Salford (Free)

• Joe Powell (AM) — Rotherham → Salford (Free)

• Abraham Odoh (LW) — Peterborough → Salford (Undisc.)

• Byron Pendleton (RB) — Birmingham → Shrewsbury (Free)

• Arkell Jude-Boyd (RWB) — Cheltenham → Shrewsbury (Free)

• Jack Price (CM) — Brackley → Shrewsbury (Free)

• Isaac Fletcher (AM) — Barrow → Shrewsbury (Undisc.)

• Josh Davison (ST) — Tranmere → Shrewsbury (Free)

• Stephan Negru (CB) — Oxford → Swindon (Free)

• James Debayo (CB) — Hull → Swindon (Loan)

• Mitch Clark (RB) — Port Vale → Swindon (Free)

• Matty Virtue (CM) — Fleetwood → Swindon (Free)

• Joel Senior (RB) — Bristol Rovers → Tranmere (Free)

• Jacob Slater (LB) — Brighton → Tranmere (Free)

• Tom Conlon (CM) — Oldham → Tranmere (Free)

• James Connolly (CB) — Crewe → Walsall (Free)

• Lewis Simper (CM) — Sutton → Walsall (Free)

• Sven Sprangler (CM) — St Johnstone → Walsall (Free)

• Andy Dallas (ST) — Barnsley → Walsall (Free)

• Zak Johnson (CB) — Sunderland → York (Undisc.)

• Charlie McArthur (CB) — Newcastle → York (Free)

• Zech Medley (CB) — Fleetwood → York (Free)

• Mark Shelton (CM) — Barnet → York (Free)

• Arthur Read (CM) — Colchester → York (Free)

• Frankie Maguire (AM) — Boston United → York (Free)

• Dipo Akinyemi (ST) — Derry City → York (Free)

What’s the transfer you’re most jealous of so far? Drop us a comment.

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Cheers, go well.

Happy Summer Transfer Window to all who celebrate, tolerate or endure it! Tomorrow, and every subsequent Friday until the window closes, we will be sending out a Done Deals bulletin listing every single transfer that gets completed in the EFL, so that we all have a living, breathing record of the 2026 EFL Summer Window.

For now, read about the transfers we like most so far!

1. Daniel Peretz (GK, reported £6m), Cyle Larin (ST, reported £3.4m) ➡️ Southampton

Ali Maxwell

It’s exciting to predict good things from a signing before they’ve kicked a ball for their new club. But it’s all unknown, of course. All speculation.

How about some known knowns?

You may remember that, before the Spygate scandal, Southampton had been playing rather well. From the date that the winter transfer window closed, they picked up 40 points from 16 matches, three more than any other side. The methods of the manager, Tonda Eckert, certainly seemed to be working! But in bringing in Daniel Peretz and Cyle Larin on loan, they also made two of the most impactful January signings in the league. Both of them have signed on for more.

25 year-old goalkeeper Peretz was, quite frankly, sensational. He made dozens of top class saves, led the league for save % and ‘prevented’ eight goals above average based on the quality and placement of shots faced. Goalkeeper performance is perhaps the hardest to predict season-by-season, but I’ve seen enough of Peretz to make me confident that he’ll be among the league’s top keepers once again, and having the league’s best shot-stopper is the football equivalent of snagging a star on Mario Kart.

Cyle Larin arrived on deadline day, rusty from a lack of football at Feyenoord and replacing Wolves-bound Adam Armstrong, who was third top scorer in the league at the time. No matter, he scored within two minutes of his debut and grabbed eight in total at 0.84 per 90. He was an xG magnet in a good attacking team - 0.62 non penalty xG per 90 compared to Armstrong’s 0.56 - but finished his chances more clinically, a 17.1% conversion compared to 11.9% from similar average chance quality. He offered less in terms of clever link play and chance creation, but more in terms of physical presence and box presence. With Ross Stewart leaving the club on a free, Larin is currently Saints’ #1 striker heading into pre-season. Having looked the part from February onwards, he’ll likely be among the favourites for the Championship Golden Boot.

2. Jenson Metcalfe (CM) Bradford ➡️ Millwall (undisclosed)

Ali Maxwell

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Lou McKenzie

Middlesbrough weren’t far away last season, going off as favourites to win the Championship Play-Off Final. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be. But defeat to Hull at Wembley is in the past. Spygate has been and gone. Looking ahead to the 2026/27 season, Boro’s ambition will be to compete for the top spots again.

In Kim Hellberg, they have one of best Head Coaches in the league. The Swede has demonstrated what he can do with a squad that was, in my eyes, a little better than average. Now, imagine what he could do with top players?

It’s not all down to him. Recruitment is the realm of Kieran Scott, who has been at the forefront of so much at Boro since joining from Norwich in 2021, moving from Chief Scout to Head of Football. That role has involved streamlining the scouting department and other areas of the club – recruitment, playing style, academy football and first-team pathways. He’s also in charge of appointing other decision-makers, such as Chris Jones, who joined the club in 2022 as Head of Scouting but has since stepped up to become Head of Recruitment.

Recruitment timeline: 2021-26

Ralf Rangnick argued that recruitment is the most important aspect of running a football club, suggesting a 50% transfer success rate is the minimum required to achieve your aims. Transfer ‘hit rate’ can be measured in different ways, but here I’ve combined my own assessment with the views of respected Middlesbrough fans Dana Malt and Boropolis. By that measure, Kieran Scott’s overall hit rate sits at around 40% — something that will need to improve this season.

2021/22 (17 signings): Scott’s first summer was disappointing. Only Riley McGree, Matt Crooks, Sol Bamba and, at a push, Lee Peltier could be considered successful.

2022/23 (14 signings): A much stronger year. Chris Wilder made a positive start before his tenure unravelled, while Michael Carrick transformed Boro into one of the Championship’s best sides. Marcus Forss, Matt Clarke, Darragh Lenihan, Tommy Smith, Cameron Archer, Ryan Giles and Aaron Ramsey were hits, with Zack Steffen and Alex Mowatt also fulfilling their roles well. A 64% hit rate helped Boro to finish 4th and become the division’s best side on points after Carrick’s appointment.

2023/24 (15 signings): Following the departures of key players in Chuba Akpom and Matt Crooks, recruitment was mixed. Emmanuel Latte Lath, Morgan Rogers, Luke Ayling, Rav van den Berg and Finn Azaz were successes (and brought huge profits in some cases), while Sam Greenwood and Lewis O’Brien were serviceable. On the other hand, they signed three senior goalkeepers and ended up no closer to a solution. Around a 30-45% hit rate.

2024/25 (14 signings): Carrick’s final season brought another mixed window. Aidan Morris, Tommy Conway, Morgan Whittaker, Mark Travers, Ben Doak and Ayling (turning his loan permanent) made positive contributions, but when offset against the disappointing returns from Delano Burgzorg and Kelechi Iheanacho, among others, the overall hit rate was around 40-45%.

2025/26 (15 signings): Boro shifted from Carrick’s possession-based football to Rob Edwards’ more pragmatic style. Whatever you make of his exit or the performances, he won eight of his 16 games and delivered Boro’s best-ever start to a season.

After Edwards departed, Scott reverted to a Carrick-style appointment by hiring Kim Hellberg from Hammarby. Looking at both summer and winter windows, five signings can be judged successful: Adilson Malanda, Alfie Jones, Alan Browne, Matt Targett and Callum Brittain — a 33% hit rate.

By the end of the season, it was clear Hellberg didn’t fully trust his subs’ bench. Despite regularly controlling matches and creating chances, Boro often lacked game-changing options. Links this week to Kyle Joseph and Oliver Skipp don’t seem, to me, obvious ceiling-raisers. So what does this summer’s window need to deliver, to take Boro to the next level?

The Boro Budget

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Sam Parry & Craig Bradley

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Sam Surridge, 27 (ST) - Nashville

Interested parties will need to stump up some cash for Sam Surridge, because he signed a new deal with Nashville just a few months ago. Naturally, that reduces potential Championship destinations to those with parachute payments and/or deep pockets. The question is: would spending relatively large sums be worth it? We reckon so.

Surridge knocked about these parts for a while, always promising a lot but never quite delivering the standout season. As a teenager, he joined Yeovil Town from Bournemouth. His path from there?

• 2017/18 — Yeovil (L2): 53 apps, 10 goals, 5 assists

• 2018/19 — Oldham (L2) / Bournemouth (PL): 22 apps, 12 goals, 3 assists

• 2019/20 — Swansea (CH) / Bournemouth (PL): 28 apps, 8 goals, 0 assists

• 2020/21 — Bournemouth (CH): 35 apps, 6 goals, 1 assist

• 2021/22 — Stoke (CH) / Nottingham Forest (CH): 47 apps, 12 goals, 3 assists

• 2022/23 — Nottingham Forest (PL): 27 apps, 3 goals, 2 assists

Surridge’s reputation suffered a little due to circumstance. He left a Bournemouth side whose rise up the leagues limited his opportunities. He left a Stoke side where he burned bright but faded, as they once again finished somewhere mid-table (not fact-checked; not fact-checking it). And he left a Forest side that gave him only one league start following their promotion to the Premier League.

In each situation, he “failed” – quote marks in the air – to become the main man, primarily because of the situation. But let’s not forget that he was still in his early twenties, and still learning.

Since heading to MLS in 2023 (one month after Lionel Messi did), Surridge has become one of the league’s premium strikers. For Nashville, he has produced 61 goals and 8 assists in 99 appearances, including a standout 31-goals-in-all-competitions season in 2025, placing him 3rd in the list of top scorers, behind Messi.

In 2025, six of those goals were scored in the US Open Cup, the most of any player, including a goal in the final to win the thing. And what of today? In 2026, no player has a better goals-to-minute ratio than Surridge’s 1.76 goals per 90 minutes, having scored nine times from just 19 shots in MLS.

Main man energy, then. Aura? Would’ve thought so.

And he could be a huge player in the Championship, bringing together a toolkit that has matured over time, as it was always likely to – especially because Surridge was probably typecast as a target man, due to his 191cm frame. Really, he is a finisher who happens to be tall; a classic No.9 who is now much more comfortable being something of a target.

Destination-wise, Wolves have been linked with a move in the past, but they’ve recently signed Raul Jimenez again. Let’s cross them off. There is a lot of talk about Birmingham and Jay Stansfield. If he were to leave, Surridge might make a lot of sense given the Blues’ business in the January window, where they seemed to change tack from a more technical profile to something better-equipped to spam crosses to big strikers. But we think there’s a more appropriate Brit abroad to fill any Stansfield-shaped hole that might arise (see the next player on the list).

Surridge fits the profile of a Kieffer Moore or a Sam Smith at Wrexham – and, of course, there is a USA angle there. It makes almost too much sense.

But we reckon West Ham might be the goer. With only Taty Castellanos and Callum Marshall under 30, you would expect them to enter the market to replace Callum Wilson (34) and Niclas Füllkrug (33). A goalscoring striker at a very good age, in a very good team, who have kept a very good manager in Nuno Espirito Santo, feels like a very good match.

Max Dean, 22 (ST) - Gent

The last time we saw Max Dean in England, he was part of an MK Dons side thrashed 8-1 over two legs by Crawley. He scored that solitary consolation, which speaks in a small way to his finishing ability. He also received a three-game ban for violent conduct after the match, which speaks in a big way to his sometimes unpredictable temperament.

Anyhow, if you cast your mind back to 2023/24, you may recall one of the premier EFL talents absolutely smashing it in League Two:

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Hello from drizzly Boston. You asked, we answered:

• Should League One clubs avoid hiring foreign managers?

• What do we think about Salford hiring Peter Cklamovski?

• What have we learned about each other on this incredible, intense trip to the World Cup?

• What the EFL can learn from football in the USA, and vice versa

• Introducing a new metric: ATRS. Find out more on the pod…

Go well.

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Jump to:

• State of Play

• Budget

• Current Squad

• Transfers

• Ali Maxwell’s Rebuilt SWFC Squad

• Conclusion

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club

For some of the clubs in focus, the word ‘rebuild’ may seem a little extreme. But for Sheffield Wednesday, there’s no overegging it. This is beyond a normal rebuild. Under new ownership, it’s a test of whether Wednesday can behave like a big club while spending like a restricted one, recruit like a modern club while carrying the pressure of promotion favourites, and turn an organisational reset into immediate results.

Easy peasy then?

State of Play

Wednesday’s Chansiri era is over. So is, for now, their Championship era.

The US consortium Arise Capital Partners, led by David Storch, has bought the club, appointing CEO David Bruce (ex-Sunderland) and former Stockport County DoF and CEO Simon Wilson to run football operations. All signs point to Henrik Pedersen staying on as Head Coach, and on a human level, you have to say he bloody well deserves it.

That’s a football leadership group that seems well-constructed and ready to rebuild Sheffield Wednesday. What they don’t have is a squad that is fit for purpose. Currently, it contains only nine players over the age of 21, and around half of those may well leave for various reasons (Max Lowe, Yan Valery, Svante Ingelsson, Iké Ugbo). Some of those likely to stay are either injury-prone (Di’Shon Bernard) or have had a tough time in a Wednesday shirt so far (Jamal Lowe, Olaf Kobacki, Charlie McNeill). Still, you’d think Liam Cooper (expected to stay) and Liam Palmer will offer crucial experience, leadership and know-how.

After that, there are around a dozen U21 players. One or two of them - Pierce Charles, Gabriel Otegbayo - have particularly high potential and will be attracting interest from higher up the pyramid. A few others - Sean Fusire, Jarvis Thornton, Ernie Weaver, George Brown - could supplement the first team squad next season. Others would ideally develop without the pressure that comes with playing for Wednesday in League One.

There is very little else to build upon. There are no areas of great strength.

Sheffield Wednesday are simultaneously:

• One of the biggest clubs in League One.

• Backed by new ownership.

• Operating under somewhat murky spending restrictions.

• Expected to challenge for promotion immediately (2nd favourites with bookmakers).

• Needing to sign around 15-18 players, spanning every single position.

• Trying to implement a long-term, sustainable model.

Budget - what can/can’t they spend?

The good news: Sheffield Wednesday have no points deduction. The trade-off: a strict business plan agreed with the EFL as part of the deal to do away with a points deduction.

There’s no concrete information on what the restrictions are, but generally, there would be a cap on new signings’ weekly wages, as well as total wages paid per year. There have been reports that transfer fees received can be reinvested in both transfer fees and, we assume, wages.

So while the sale of key players—a Pierce Charles or a Svante Ingelsson—would hurt the team on an individual level, it could raise the ceiling of what the club can do on a squad level. What the new owners can’t do is inject their own cash to help bolster the playing budget.

The Wednesday Word confirmed recently that:

“Wednesday, like the other relegated Championship clubs, are allowed to spend 65% of their turnover in their first season, but that will be reduced to 50% in season two. Unlike their counterparts, though, the Owls’ new owners will not be allowed to utilise owner equity top-up as part of their agreement to avoid the -15 deduction as they exited administration.”

What exactly the playing budget will be, we don’t know. The last time the Owls were in League One, they had a reported wage bill of £15.8m. This season, it feels likely to be much lower, though there is positivity in the fact that the club has sold over 21,000 season tickets and may well secure healthy commercial deals to boost the budget.

Even if the budget is lower this season than in previous League One campaigns, there is a glimmer of good news. Where have we seen decent, if not league-leading spending power mixed with efficiency, strategy and even creativity as a driver of success? That’s where Simon Wilson excelled at Stockport County, helping propel them from the National League to the upper echelons of League One in just a few years, and his appointment feels like a huge coup for Sheffield Wednesday.

Playing Style

With no players signed yet, we have no concrete evidence about the exact approach the club will take. But we can take some hints from what has been said publicly by those at the club, and reported by the excellent Sheffield local media.

From Head Coach Henrik Pedersen:

“We need a group of experienced players who have tried League One or higher than League One to make a strong, strong team. We need a mid-group of players from 21 to 24 with a lot of power who can go again and again and again. And we need a hungry young group under 21, part of the squad with a lot of hunger, with a lot of mentality. So we need a mix of all three groups and, of course, we need these experienced players too.”

“The strategy has to be to play with young players. We have to make a business model that is sustainable, and a part of this is to find young, top talent. We have to make them strong and effective in the first team. Then it will be a part of the business model also to sell players.”

“We also know that when teams come to Hillsborough, it will be a compact team we will play against, so we know we want to match them in set pieces. We need to be really good in our counter-pressing. For this we need physically strong players.”

From The Sheffield Star:

“The Dane, whose side have struggled from set pieces after the departures of ‘first contact winners’ such as Michael Smith, Michael Ihiekwe and Callum Paterson, explained they want six players of that profile in the squad. Physical capabilities will be a major consideration of the make-up of the squad, with many goals scored and conceded from transitions in possession.”

So, by the time the transfer window closes, the dream Wednesday squad will tick the following boxes:

• High intensity, physical

• Counter-pressing, quick transitions

• Set pieces

• 4-2-2-2/Red Bull style tendencies

In terms of the in-possession approach, there is no silver bullet in League One. Last season showed that you can succeed playing a direct style (Lincoln City), a super-technical and possession-based style (Cardiff City), or a mixed style (Bolton, Stockport). What matters is not the approach itself, but whether or not you are good at it.

When it comes to out-of-possession trends, there’s more signal. In the League One tactical arena, what’s clear above all is that you are unlikely to be successful if you sit deep, are passive, and let teams onto you.

That means a recruitment strategy that may prioritise athletic defenders, powerful midfielders and mobile forwards over purely technical players. There is a potential issue here if free transfers and loans are going to dominate Wednesday’s signings because the free transfers available to Wednesday will, in the main, be older players and perhaps not peak-age athletic types.

Younger loanees can certainly have plenty of pace and other impressive physical attributes, but the requisite durability is hard to bank on. There’s another potential issue with loans and, to a lesser extent, with frees - often you have to wait until (late) August before you can get them in the building.

Premier League teams regularly involve their best U21 players in their own preseason squads to better gauge them - especially following a major tournament. For free transfers that are sought after, they may choose to wait it out for better suitors, safe in the knowledge they’ll have interest on account of being unattached.

Match those potential hurdles with David Bruce’s recent quote: ‘We have to be really aggressive and active in the transfer market as soon as the window opens.’

Here is a big question at this stage: will Wednesday actually be able to recruit to a style this summer? Or could their situation necessitate the signing of the best attainable players, with a style to be implemented to fit the squad that is assembled, rather than the other way round? Will they be able to be active in the transfer market as soon as the window opens, while also signing top targets?

This is a huge challenge.

Current Squad

Before you build, the first question must always be: What can we use from the existing squad?

Let’s hypothesise: if Wednesday get promoted in 2026-27, which current players could feasibly be important squad members?

Well, there’s another issue here. These four players are probably Sheffield Wednesday’s best remaining contracted players:

1. Yan Valery is expected to depart.

2. Svante Ingelsson has another year on his deal, but also has had Championship interest – reportedly from Millwall in January.

3. Max Lowe would likely be a key player for Wednesday, but is considering offers from the Championship.

4. Pierce Charles is one of the most exciting young goalkeepers in English football and is already Northern Ireland’s number one. He will also have plenty of suitors, and is likely Wednesday’s best chance of receiving a sizeable transfer fee this summer.

This, the Charles Hypothetical, is more important than ever, because it’s their only way of ‘boosting’ the budget beyond 65% of the club’s organic revenue. Is promotion more likely with Pierce Charles in goal, or with the extra budget his sale could unlock?

It would be a huge statement if Wednesday could retain the services of two or three of that group of four.

Elsewhere, Gabriel Otegbayo seems likely to be a key player in defence. Experienced leaders Liam Cooper and Liam Palmer have a key role to play, but can they be expected to start 40+ games in an intense playing style?

These are players that Simon Wilson has described previously as ‘twilight’ players:

“Experienced players based in or near South Yorkshire, who may have settled their lives here. Clearly, there are risks with these players because of age and injury history, but off the pitch they can add huge value culturally and provide inspiration for younger players in terms of what they can achieve.”

Then there is a small group of attacking players with plenty to prove: Olaf Kobacki, Charlie McNeill, Jamal Lowe, Ike Ugbo. Could they be part of a strong Wednesday team? Yes? Maybe? Can we be sure? Moving some of those players on would free up some budget for signings.

As for some other young players, Sean Fusire, Ernie Weaver, George Brown could all develop well and become first-team regulars — it would be a shame to see their development path blocked.

Transfers

Well done for sampling the amuse-bouche and starter. All of that context provides me with a starting point from which to cook up the main course: a squad of players signed for free, fees and on loan. The task I’ve set myself isn’t a prediction of exactly who Sheffield Wednesday will sign. Think of it more as a giant whiteboard with every position underlined and plenty of white space beneath to identify some targets.

Rebuilding (Fees)

Our understanding is that Wednesday will be able to pay fees for signings, but not in the manner of a Birmingham or a Wrexham. The priority for the EFL is for the club to demonstrate financial health and sensible judgement, not to allow them to outspend the competition in order to build their dream squad in the space of three months.

Given that we expect Henrik Pedersen to try and play a style in which intensity and physicality are important, we are going to assume that any signings that require a transfer fee will tick those boxes. Here are some suggested signings from each area of the pitch, with the caveat that it’s difficult to nail down exactly what sort of fee their clubs would be demanding and what other interest they may be attracting:

Full Backs:

If you aren’t the ones to secure [spoiler alert] Ilmari Niskanen on a free, then an enquiry for Huddersfield’s Lasse Sorensen would make sense, and the same for Bradford’s Josh Neufville — the most physically impressive full-backs/wing-backs in League One.

Cheaper options on the left side would be Jaheim Headley - recently relegated with Port Vale but someone that fits into my ‘Good Player, Bad Situation’ category. It would seem a big step up for Reece Hutchinson to move from Crewe to Sheffield Wednesday, but he had a fantastic season in League Two - showing durability and technical quality from left back.

Central Defenders:

Mamadou Jobe (Cambridge) should be scouted by any top League One club. With one year left on his contract and having had an impressive year in League Two, this could be the last chance to sign him before his stock rises far higher.

Terence Vancooten (Burton) could be someone that Wednesday looks at. Ade Oluwo of Salford is a centre-back who would likely step up well from a defensive point of view, but offers little on the ball.

Central Midfielders:

It appears that Barry Bannan (Millwall) could be on his way back to Hillsborough, which would be a lovely story and a quality addition. However, he’ll need Shea Charles-esque legs around him.

Brandon Khela (Peterborough) could be of interest as a young, do-it-all central midfielder. Charlie Webster (Burton) also scans for that role. Both are under 23 with big upside.

Wingers:

Can I interest you in a Lisbie?

Kyrell (Peterborough United) or Kyreece (Colchester United) are all the rage at the moment and would suit Pedersen’s suggested tactical approach. They run forward, they run fast. has reported that the club has an interest in Kyreece.

Strikers

Joe Crann has also mentioned a potential move for former Wednesdayite Callum Paterson (MK Dons). Elsewhere, a good starting point would be our last piece!

Tyrese Shade (Burton), Sam Nombe (Rotherham) or Jayden Wareham (Exeter City) — all would add plenty to Sheffield Wednesday’s front-line and shouldn’t be too expensive. Marcus Browne (Wimbledon) also came on well last season, playing as a striker.

Rebuilding (Frees)

Next there is a pool of free agents. Wednesday will be all over the best options here. The free transfers are where experienced League One performers can be acquired, and this is likely where a big chunk of the squad will need to be found.

A few weeks back, we published an article listing all the available free agents in the EFL. Let’s fish in that pond, position by position.

Goalkeepers

If Wednesday decide to keep Pierce Charles for the forthcoming season, they’ll need to sign a backup, with Logan Stretch fine as a third choice. If Charles is off, they’ll need two goalkeepers to come through the door. It just so happens that two former Wednesday players, Joe Wildsmith and Cameron Dawson, have both been released. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see one of those sign up for the rebuild — the uncertainty of adding a whole new team can be softened slightly by those you already know, and who know the club. Another option here would be Brad Collins, who has been a solid League One keeper.

Central Defenders

In terms of free agent centre backs, Jonathan Panzo may have struggled to impose himself on any EFL side he’s played for in the Championship - Birmingham, Coventry, Nottingham Forest - but he clearly has something. Left-footed and comfortable on the ball, a drop to League One could be just the tonic.

Other attainable options would be Dan Sweeney, helpful for set-piece prowess or Zak Jules. I could see Wednesday legend Tom Lees being added in a senior role to help oversee the dressing room.

Full Backs/Wing Backs

Full-backs are needed on both sides, and there’s a decent bunch of League One-level options available on a free. On the left, Cohen Bramall would be a good addition for the ability to get up and down the flank, and Callum Elder and Reece James would be solid, experienced, less athletic types that offer good delivery from deep. Nathanael Ogbeta is struggling to make good on his potential, but could be an Adaramola-esque choice, better going forward than defending.

On the right, Ilmari Niskanen has already been highlighted on NTT20.COM as a no-brainer option for the Owls and essentially any League One team.

It would be a fantastic move for Niskanen, and Wednesday would be getting a durable, energetic right-sider that creates chances as well as any other full-back at the level.

Elsewhere, former Millwall right-back Danny McNamara would likely do well playing in League One, while Tennai Watson could be a squad option, rather than a needle-mover.

Central Midfielders

Ryan Wintle is the shining light of the free agent market — a key player for Cardiff in their promotion, uber-comfortable on the ball in defensive and middle thirds and an obvious target for League One clubs targeting promotion.

My understanding is that he left Cardiff due to his wage expectations not matching up with the club’s - whether or not that puts him out of range for Wednesday is unclear. In terms of other deep and middle-third ball-players, Dan Barlaser and Archie Collins will both likely be targeting Championship moves, but would surely see some appeal in dictating play for Sheffield Wednesday.

Terry Taylor is a player we’ve always loved at NTT20. A horrible few years with injury knocked him back, but he appears to be over the injuries now and is, at worst, a serviceable midfielder at this level that could feasibly kick onto another level in the right situation. Dru Yearwood did a few bits with Rotherham United, but his availability and performance are inconsistent.

In box-to-box roles, important for Pedersen’s playing style, Clarke Oduor is a bit of a Swiss-Army knife and could be a helpful squad option due to his versatility. Callum Wright was Wigan’s player of the season in an 8/10 role, and Kyle Dempsey offers a similar skillset — guys with energy that can press high and offer goal threat from midfield without being tempo dictators. Odin Bailey too is available on a free and would surely be a smart signing.

A fruity one? Alex Gilbert is a super interesting option to me, someone who performed well on occasion for Kim Hellberg in a deep midfield role that wouldn’t be considered his natural position, but can also play as a 10 or out wide.

Wingers

This feels ripe for some young loanee talent, but there are a few speedy options released by Championship clubs - Przemysław Płacheta, Sammy Silvera - as well as Owen Dale, who was a big part of Plymouth Argyle’s strong form in League One at the end of last season. Marcus Forss is likely on the shortlist.

Strikers

How about Jamie Vardy?

Out of contract after his spell in Italy, a massive Sheffield Wednesday fan who’s never played for the club, currently enjoying the trappings of modern media with a documentary and a podcast — it almost feels too perfect for him to bring his hunger and goalscoring edge to his beloved Wednesday, and write another chapter in his remarkable story.

For other reasons, Jacob Brown feels an obvious signing after leaving Luton. He has excellent physical attributes that fit the bill for Pedersen and is looking to get his confidence back after a tough few seasons. Daryl Dike is an interesting option, especially if no Championship suitors come calling.

Rebuilding (Loans)

Clearly, in a world where a club needs to add fifteen players but are under transfer restrictions, loans are also going to be key. Ordinarily, we would not vouch for a loan-heavy approach. In this situation, it feels appropriate. In fact, it’s one of the club’s biggest edges in the transfer market this summer. Wednesday’s size, stadium and fanbase should make them attractive to Premier League U21s and Championship prospects.

One of the best aspects of last season was the performances of Harry Amass (Manchester United) and then Jaden Heskey (Manchester City). It can be a huge strength for Wednesday to have those two clubs, and others like it, viewing Wednesday as a good club for player development and Henrik Pedersen as a good babysitter. Would Heskey or Tayo Adaramola (Crystal Palace) return? I’m no expert on PL2 football or the availability of loanees from elite clubs, but a few names spring to mind.

Defenders:

Josh Feeney, who played 1,768 minutes at centre-back for Huddersfield last season, already has the kind of league experience Pedersen appears to prize. Kian Best, meanwhile, started nine Championship games at left-back for Preston before moving to Chelsea’s U21s last summer.

Midfielders:

Coventry’s 19-year-old midfielder Kai Andrews is highly rated, too, and after spending the first half of 2025/26 on the bench before a January loan to Hibs, he should be ready for regular football.

But given the Owls’ financial situation, using the loan market to add attacking spark feels not only likely, but sensible.

Strikers/Forwards:

Jamie Donley has endured two stop-start Championship loans, but a more dominant League One side might be exactly what he needs. Oxford reportedly had a deal in place that could have become permanent had they stayed up; could Wednesday explore a similar obligation-to-buy structure, triggered by promotion?

Ethan Wheatley is not the glamorous, headline-grabbing goalscorer, but he works hard, has League One experience, and brings the kind of energy Pedersen wants. And what of Louie Barry? After a difficult Championship loan across the city with the Blades, he finished the season strongly at Stockport. A move to Hillsborough would certainly add a bit of spice… and goals.

Okay, that’s a lot of names. Is it possible to fit them together into something approaching a realistic squad? I am trying to be sensible in terms of player interest, and whilst some players will be attracted to the project, others may well receive much better offers. For any club, acquiring all your No.1 targets is very unlikely.

Ali Maxwell’s draft SWFC squad

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Conclusion

Let’s be honest: the names themselves are almost secondary. Some will be out of reach, some will take better offers, and some simply won’t be fancied by the manager. That is the nature of a rebuild this large, this urgent and this constrained.

What matters is whether Wednesday can turn a blank canvas into something coherent: a squad that suits the manager, enough players proven at the level, and deals that work within the finances. As this exercise has shown, it is no easy task.

By the end of the summer window, Wednesday may have built a team capable of going up this season. They may have laid the foundations for a more sustainable future. They may struggle to do either. In a rebuild of this size, all outcomes are on the table.

But for a club that has spent too long lurching from one crisis to the next, having an owner, CEO and Director of Football all pulling in the same direction feels significant. It makes me more confident than I have been for a long time that the Owls will make more good recruitment calls than bad ones. And after everything Wednesday fans have endured, that alone is something to be excited about.

Huw Davies & Craig Bradley

New and exciting things are happening in England’s third tier.

For several years, League One wasn’t a great source of strikers for Championship clubs looking to recruit from below. To use some very basic numbers, the average age of each season’s top five scorers between 2021/22 and 22/24 was 29 years old, with veterans in the midst of an Indian summer – Matty Taylor, Chris Martin, David McGoldrick – joining stalwarts such as Alfie May and Colby Bishop.

That changed in 2024/25. League One’s most prolific strikers were Charlie Kelman, Jay Stansfield and Richard Koné, all aged between 21 and 23, while Malik Mothersille and particularly Rumarn Burrell had eyebrow-raising campaigns in the bottom half. Kelman’s goals on loan at Leyton Orient convinced Charlton to buy him for their return to the Championship, while Stansfield was promoted with Birmingham, Mothersille moved up the division to Stockport, and Koné and Burrell moved up the pyramid to QPR (who also signed a pair of 23-year-old League One stars in Kwame Poku and Amadou Mbengue).

This is the template for clubs hoping to find value. Sign this year’s Koné; sign next year’s Burrell.

The good news for those clubs, either in the Championship or chasing promotion to it, is that 2025/26 gave us even more strikers who look ready to leave League One behind, this summer or the next. But who? And why? And, most importantly, where?

1. The Golden Boot winner

DOM BALLARD
21
Leyton Orient

Let’s be clear: if it wasn’t for Ballard’s 23 goals, the 2024/25 play-off finalists would have been relegated in 2025/26. Having his services was no fluke, however – it was excellent recruitment. Rather than take him from Southampton on loan, as almost every League One club (including Orient) would normally do with a 20-year-old academy striker, the O’s spent a six-figure sum to buy him outright.

This showed boldness and ambition. Keep in mind that Ballard had scored only six goals in the equivalent of 25 90s across three League One loans with Reading, Blackpool and Cambridge – a steady but not outstanding start to his EFL career. There were no guarantees. It was a calculated risk that paid off, as Leyton Orient are now in possession of a valuable asset whose Golden Boot will shine temptingly to magpie eyes in the Championship. Just look at Kelman.

There are two important questions: one for the sellers, one for the buyers. Orient’s squad needs improvements across the board, so is it wiser to sell Ballard and fund those, or to keep him while attempting cheaper upgrades, in the hope that his value increases further while driving them up the table?

As for those on the other side of the market stall, Ballard’s work outside the box isn’t markedly above League One level, so are you punting on pure goalscoring or hoping that his all-round game will improve to stand up to the test of Championship football?

Perhaps it will. He’s only 21. For a rumoured £3m minimum fee, though, and possibly much more, he may represent a bigger risk than paying a similar sum for…

2. The man in demand

LORENT TOLAJ
24
Plymouth Argyle

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Ryan Deeney

Every season, National League clubs lose players to the EFL. Last year was no different. From Kain Adom (Gateshead to Burton Albion) and Jack Taylor (Sutton United to Stevenage) to Tiernan Brooks (Gateshead to Charlton Athletic) and Beck-Ray Enoru (Tamworth to Notts County), there’s still a pipeline for non-league talent - just wait and see what happens with Lorent Tolaj this summer.

Today I’m going to scout out three more who might not only be ready for EFL football but are also readily available if the right suitor comes calling.

Edon Pruti (CB)

Sutton United

Someone honk the left-footed centre-back klaxon.

Edon Pruti joined Sutton United in the summer of 2025 on a two-year deal and impressed enough to be a mainstay in the middle of an ever-changing backline. The London-born former Albanian youth international started 35 league matches, a rare presence of stability for a team that used a whopping 43 footballers last season.

However, the picture has changed.

Manager Chris Agutter has spoken openly about wanting to achieve more in 2026-27 and believes adding experience to the group is important. He has been true to his word, signing both Will Nightingale and Jordan Moore-Taylor to complement a group that also includes Pruti, Junior Eccleston, Alex Kirk, Toby Byron and Hayden Muller (should he sign the deal on offer to him).

Pruti’s position could be the one most threatened, and having already recieved the Pete O’Rourke treatment, a move might benefit all parties.

Last year, Louorns wrote about the return of the big, powerful number 9. How do you deal with a big one of those? You get yourself a big, powerful centre-half. Just look at the size of the starting centre-backs for promoted Coventry, Millwall, Hull, Lincoln, Bromley and MK Dons.

Edon Pruti has enjoyed a meandering career path, playing academy football at both Burnley and Brentford, spending time with the likes of Hanwell Town and Loughborough University, having a brief spell in the EFL with Hartlepool United and bouncing around the higher echelons of non-league with Slough Town, Farnborough and now Sutton United.

Now 24, he stands at around six feet three inches and has reached an age where his body has properly filled out. He’s an imposing figure and one who uses his size to good effect, defending on the front foot and outmuscling opponents to attack the ball in the air, whilst also being happy to give a bit back when opponents engage in some shithousery. Those qualities saw him occasionally wear the captain's armband last season. In short, Pruti seems to love defending.

As can be expected of a National League centre-back, there are rough edges to his game. Pruti can be heavy-footed at times, preferring to defend with the game in front of him. In possession, he gets by rather than thrives and is generally best served leaving the more technical elements to teammates. And in terms of conditioning, his manager has highlighted fitness issues across the squad, meaning Pruti could probably do with a strong summer of work to prepare him for another full season.

However, it’s important to emphasise that 25/26 was only his second full season of men’s football and his first as a professional. All things considered, Pruti is developing very nicely and as a left-footer, his chances of a rise up the ladder increase.

Should he leave, Edon Pruti’s destinations are likely to fall either in the National League or League Two. Given this is an EFL piece, it’s the latter we will explore.

When Pete O’Rourke sent his tweet in April, he mentioned two clubs with relatively opposing aspirations last season: Crawley Town and Grimsby Town.

Both clubs have a track record for taking on talent from the National League, with the former a nice fit from a location point of view - Pruti was born in West London - and the latter a strong fit for Pruti’s career ambitions given their upward trajectory.

Elsewhere, Accrington Stanley are amongst the clubs that are happy to give opportunities to non-league talent and don’t currently have a natural leftie amongst their centre-back options, while from a location and stylistic point of view, Swindon Town and Colchester United represent teams that wouldn’t turn their nose up at a dominant, left-sided centre-half.

Keenan Appiah-Forson (CM)

Southend United

A non-league Ngolo Kante? I’m not budging on that.

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Daryl Dike

Sam Parry: An injury-ridden spell at West Brom has drawn a medical curtain around the doubtless talent of Daryl Dike. Yes, this is a classic “if fit” scenario, though we have to wonder whether there is still a devastating Championship striker waiting to reappear.

West Brom know only too well that too many injury-prone players can become a perfect storm. It was not that long ago – January 2026, in fact – that Daryl Dike and Josh Maja started together for the first time despite both being at the club for two and a half years.

No longer under contract, Dike is very available while also coming with a very large question mark around his availability. But given that he has just turned 26 and at least showed signs of recovery by playing 719 Championship minutes last season (the 3rd-most minutes of his EFL career to date), appearing in matchday squads consistently after the opening months, there should be clubs willing to gamble on the American putting a hamstring tear, a thigh tear and two Achilles tendon ruptures behind him.

Age: 26

Height: 187cm

Preferred Foot: Right

Status: Free Agent

Position: Striker

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Bargain hunt, anyone?

Today we are publishing the list of the 500+ EFL players to be released from their contracts (or those who are in discussions). Huge thanks to Jack Shoemark for collating the list.

Tomorrow we will publish the first in our SCOUTING series, listing the best freebies on the market, including a deep dive into three of our favourites. Sign up now to get full access to all our summer transfer content. And don’t forget, we’re doing things slightly differently this summer — you can read all about that below.

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