EFL Transfer Bulletin #15 – Wrexham splurge on Cacace and Thomason, Watford land Irankunda from Bayern, and Stockport sign Arttu Hoskonen

The latest 26 done deals in the EFL, and in focus: Keeley, Peacock-Farrell and Simkin head to League One, the land of the New Number 1.

The EFL Transfer Bulletin is written by Ali Maxwell, George Elek, Huw Davies, Sam Parry, Matt Watts, Craig Bradley, Ed Stratmann and Riley Roberts, with the help of the NTT20 Squad.

The next three weeks are set. And it’s our most electric run of content yet.

We’ve been publishing the EFL Transfer Bulletin twice a week all summer, but there are some exciting arrivals on the horizon.

Huw’s first up, whetting the appetite tomorrow with 72 things he wants to see in the EFL this season. Then we’ll be carving out a dedicated day to preview each league in depth.

And, of course, Ali and George will hit the usual pod channels with their 1-24 predictions – plus, for paid subscribers on NTT20.COM only, there’ll be a bonus pod diving deep into the biggest arguments about them.

Oh, and the season starts next week.

It’s a full-fat feast of EFL, starting with 26 transfers in today’s amuse bouche.

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Keep an eye on League One’s #1s

From Bohemian Rhapsody to Andrew Strauss, the number one carries weight – and nowhere more so than in football. Today, we want to shine a spotlight on the cabal of League One clubs who have signed new #1s. The third tier is increasingly a hot-house for young keepers — especially via the loan market — who can learn more playing there than they can sitting on a Championship or Premier League bench, or hanging around in PL2. That cabal?

• Barnsley – Murphy Cooper (Loan: QPR, CH)

• Blackpool – *Bailey Peacock-Farrell (Loan: Birmingham, CH)

• Bolton – Teddy Sharman-Lowe (Loan: Chelsea, PL)

• Doncaster – Thimothée Lo-Tutala (Loan: Hull, CH)

• Huddersfield – Owen Goodman (Loan: Crystal Palace, PL)

• Leyton Orient – *Tommy Simkin (Loan: Stoke, CH)

• Luton – *Josh Keeley (Permanent: Tottenham, PL)

• Mansfield – Liam Roberts (Permanent: Millwall, CH)

• Peterborough – Alex Bass (Permanent: Notts County, L2)

• Port Vale — Marko Marosi (Permanent: Cambridge, L2)

• Wimbledon – Nathan Bishop (Permanent: Sunderland, PL)

*Write-ups of all new signings below

Elsewhere, Argyle’s Conor Hazard is reportedly injured, so a replacement would make it an even dozen. Plus, Exeter have re-signed Joe Whitworth, although that’s a return rather than a true debut. Half of the league could be starting the season with a brand new first-choice goalkeeper. Half of the league!

Now, this situation is likely little more than a loose thread to be tightened in pre-season, but you can’t help but wonder about the impact. The first and most obvious thing is the upside: we would consider a majority of these signings to be qualitative upgrades on the previous glove-wearers. In fact, Matt gave a few of them their flowers when writing about the glut of bright young shot-stopping things in the EFL.

At the same time, though, a new keeper changes the tone of a team. Can they play a bit? More importantly, do they want to play? Do they punch or catch? Are they a box-commander or a bag of nerves? The new season starts in less than a fortnight, and this is something to keep an eye on. After all, the No.1 isn’t just a squad number – it’s a job title, and one that demands presence.

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Championship

Sean McLoughlin (CB/LB) - [Hull - Blackburn] - Undisclosed (reported £500,000)

McLoughlin was a target for Blackburn this time last year and they’ve finally got their man, on a two-year deal with the option of a third. The 28-year-old Irishman addresses Rovers’ need for a left-sided defender and can operate in a back four or as the left-sided centre-half in a three, so he should immediately add depth as well as ability to the squad.

Though he isn’t the quickest nor most technically gifted defender around, McLoughlin is tireless, battle-hardened and tidy in and out of possession. For a reported £500k, this is a decent bit of squad-bolstering business by Blackburn.

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Nestory Irankunda (RW/LW/ST) - [Bayern Munich - Watford] - Undisclosed (reported £2.5m)