EFL Transfer Bulletin #9 – Beadle's a Blue, Kesler-Hayden swaps Villa for Cov, Poku signs for QPR, Emil Riis heads to Bristol City, and Denver Hume moves to Fleetwood
The latest 60 done deals in the EFL, and in focus: Huw's Cock-A-Hoop as QPR make a statement signing.
The EFL Transfer Bulletin is written by Ali Maxwell, George Elek, Huw Davies, Sam Parry, Matt Watts, Craig Bradley and Riley Roberts, with the help of the NTT20 Squad.
Bigger sometimes is better
Big fees and blockbuster contracts don’t always deliver fireworks. But this — this EFL Transfer Bulletin is both BIG and an absolute banger. Bonkers at times.
60 signings. Wallets a little lighter. Goalkeepers arriving at a frankly absurd rate. New faces from overseas. Old faces from over the border. And Oldham signing 10 million ex-Tranmere players, making it vaguely possible that they could field an ex-Tranmere XI on opening day, all signed by Micky Mellon.
Oh, and yes, some serious names on the move. From Kwame Poku and Kaine Kesler-Hayden to Will Collar and Denver Hume, we’ve got every single transfer covered on NTT20.COM.
Huw Davies
Kwame Poku (RW) - [Peterborough - QPR] - Compensation (reported £900,000 + add-ons)
This may be the first time in some years that QPR have gone into competition with other clubs for a player and come out on top. ‘QPR win race for...’ is a phrase we’ve rarely heard of late, and that, just for starters, makes the signing of Kwame Poku damn exciting for R’s fans.
Of course, buying players wanted by other clubs is no guarantee of success (just look at Manchester United over the past decade), but it does indicate that a club has pull. Barry Fry claims that Poku’s agent claims that 26 clubs were in for him, so we can assume that it was at least a dozen, i.e. lots. The winger has chosen Queens Park Rangers over Glasgow Rangers, among others, not to mention Birmingham City, allegedly, whose online fans have gone into never-wanted-him-anyway-mode. A sub-£1m upfront fee, for a player who was out of contract but in demand, also represents good business.
More importantly for QPR, this signing fills a need – a need for speed. For too long, they’ve lacked the sort of pace that excites supporters and worries defenders. And more importantly still, Poku, cutting inside from the right onto his left foot, has offered a lot more output than most of his new team-mates, even if that has come in League One thus far.
If a total of 189 EFL appearances (154 starts) for a 23-year-old speaks to his availability, 63 goal contributions (33 goals, 30 assists) speaks to his threat – and a nice round 50 of those have come in the last three seasons, across the equivalent of 85 full 90s. It’d be natural to fear a reversion to the mean after Poku’s radical overperformance of xG in 2024/25, but looking at his shot maps year-on-year across four seasons with Posh, a counter-argument would be that he’s simply improving his shot selection and placement.
There are concerns. Poku’s relative lack of interest in defending might be mitigated by having Jimmy Dunne behind him, but QPR also have Ilias Chair and Karamoko Dembele who need help in that regard. The step up in physicality from League One to the Championship is also a big one. But for all of the maybes, probablys, doubts, hopes and guesses, we can be certain of one thing: Kwame Poku is an upgrade on poor Paul Smyth.
Championship
James Beadle (GK) - [Brighton - Birmingham] - Loan
Opinions vary on James Beadle. Most naysayers would concede that the 20-year-old is capable of the spectacular save and is good with his feet, whilst questioning his goalkeeping fundamentals - he dives a bit weird. But let’s face it, last season, the Sheffield Wednesday defence did nothing to help prevent him from ending up with the lowest save percentage of a Championship goalkeeper.
Most proponents would concede that he’s had dodgy moments, whilst pointing to his spectacular saves, excellent footwork and, of course, his age - there’s huge room to grow. And this has to be a growth season for the Brighton loanee. Not upwardly - he’s very tall. But growth in his all-around game. That spurt has begun in earnest already; he’s donned the gloves as England retained the U21 Euros title. And now at Birmingham, the situation feels right. An upwardly mobile and ambitious club, with what will surely be a meaner defence than the Owls provided, should fit him like a…
Of course, he’ll have to earn those gloves from Ryan Allsop, or at least spend the season fending off real competition from a popular and competent Championship stopper.
Emil Riis (ST) - [Preston - Bristol City] - Free
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