EFL Transfer Bulletin #21 – Hull land McBurnie, Stoke loan Donley, Derby get Clark and Wrexham wanted Moore (and got him)
The latest 25 done deals in the EFL, and in focus: Championship Loan Dominoes with Ali Maxwell
The Championship kicks off today, but most EFL clubs are still waiting for the loan dominoes to start falling. With Premier League squads bloated and young hopefuls itching for minutes, the real movement is just beginning.
Here are the latest 25 EFL transfers. Oh, and if you haven’t already, do check out our Fan Previews and club-by-club Cheat Sheets.
Loan Dominoes
As Premier League teams return from their overseas tours, bloated with cash, many of them will turn to young players who have travelled, trained hard and given their all in friendly matches, and say: “Cheers kid, best get you out on loan now.”
For almost every EFL club, loans are a large part of the transfer diet. They’re (generally) cheap, and they don’t carry much risk in comparison to permanent deals. You could end up with a future Premier League star playing for your club.
One of the downsides is having to wait for Premier League clubs to start engaging with this discussion. Their season starts later, they’re still early on in their own transfer business, and they’re in no rush to release players who just might be needed at least until September 1st.
For example, look at Everton’s bench from last weekend’s friendly against Manchester United:
Most clubs have a handful of players like some of Everton’s here, not realistically due to play Premier League minutes this season, but retained to fill out benches in the meantime.
So far this window, Championship clubs have signed 19 young loanees from Premier League clubs. Here they are, broken down by positions:
GK - James Beadle, Radek Vitek, Carl Rushworth
CB - Eiran Cashin, Tyler Bindon, Kaelan Casey, Ashley Phillips
LB - Owen Beck, Caleb Wiley
CM - David Ozoh, Tommy Doyle, Bobby Clark
AM/W - Jamie Donley, Joel Ndala, Luke Harris, Louie Barry
ST - Daniel Jebbison, Divin Mubama, Will Lankshear
We can expect many more to come. Looking at last year’s Championship loanees, here’s a selection of players we can expect to land back in the second tier on loan:
Yang Min-hyoek, Joe Gelhardt, Harrison Armstrong, Jayden Meghoma, George Earthy, Freddie Potts, Darko Gyabi, Alex Matos, Dane Scarlett, Lewis Koumas, Andrew Moran.
Then there will be the first-timers we’ve not seen much before at senior level – Ben Doak and Reece James spring to mind from previous years. We’ve heard that Manchester United’s Toby Collyer and Harry Amass are being pitched to clubs. Chelsea are normally good for a superstar or two, and as Felix Morson-Pate displayed in his excellent piece analysing the PL2 -> EFL loan market, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Brighton are also prolific loaners themselves.
The transfer market is one big game of dominoes. So, while League One and League Two clubs are, of course, also looking to recruit straight from PL clubs, more opportunities will arise for them to sign hitherto unavailable loanees from Championship clubs as they themselves bolster their first team squad and make their own young players available for loan. A look at our Championship Club-By-Club Cheat Sheet chucks up a fair few names that will likely fit the bill.
Championship
Marvin Ducksch (ST) - [Werder Bremen - Birmingham] - Undisclosed
Coming to Birmingham from the Bundesliga, like Christoph Klarer before him, Ducksch is another Blues signing who is high-risk but potentially high-reward. The 31-year-old striker has never played a competitive match outside Germany nor even against non-German opposition, so he’ll need to adjust on the pitch as well as off it. A 46-game Championship season is also very different from Germany’s 34-match campaigns; the most appearances Ducksch has ever made in all competitions across a single season is 37.
However, he has a stellar record at 2.Bundesliga level (71 goals and 34 assists in 138 matches) and 20, 22 and 17 goal contributions in his past three top-flight seasons suggest he handled the step up well. He plays with an infectious enthusiasm and could very well become a fan favourite at St Andrew’s. That all being said, the No.22 shirt was available but Ducksch instead took No.33, and that’s just unforgivable.
Axel Henriksson (CM) - [GAIS - Blackburn] - Undisclosed
Henriksson adds to Valérien Ismaël’s many midfield options, alongside Lewis Travis, Sidnei Tavares, Adam Forshaw, Sondre Tronstad and John Buckley. Arriving mid-season from GAIS in Sweden and making his first move as a pro – on a four-year deal, no less, with the option of a fifth – he should be ready and champing at the bit.
The 23-year-old offers intensity, physicality and running power, making penetrative bursts into the box. Though he can look languid, Henriksson is athletic and defensively sound, and ranked highly among Allsvenskan midfielders in a number of metrics, including shots, dribbles, crosses, counter-pressing and duels won.
Bobby Clark (CM/AM) - [Red Bull Salzburg - Derby] - Loan
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