£7.5million. Wrexham have arrived in the championship. Ipswich fans are gutted too.
We have made some fantastic signings and have a fantastic manager but this division is a relentless one. I’m confident, but we really do have our work cut out. Should be good fun,
They've also got Windass, which I didn't realise. As well as Hardie - lot of Championship goals between them last season. Also signed a midfielder for £4m from Forest. I thought they were having a quiet summer but it appears not!
Looked at the finances again - The 3 newly promoted sides last season Derby, Oxford and Portsmouth spent - during the entire season (not just summer window, both windows) €18.2m according transfermrkt, with a couple of question marks so probably nearer the €21-22m mark.
So far, just in this window - before Knibbs, Broadhead, Moore, whoever else we all sign, us, Birmingham and Wrexham have spent €25.2m.
Looked at the finances again - The 3 newly promoted sides last season Derby, Oxford and Portsmouth spent - during the entire season (not just summer window, both windows) €18.2m according transfermrkt, with a couple of question marks so probably nearer the €21-22m mark.
So far, just in this window - before Knibbs, Broadhead, Moore, whoever else we all sign, us, Birmingham and Wrexham have spent €25.2m.
Worth noting as well that Derby sold Cashin for approx 10 million which I imagine heavily bank rolled their window.
It feels like all 3 newly promoted sides are just spending without any significant outgoings
Middlesbrough have accepted a £20m bid from Ipswich for Hayden Hackney, although the 'Boro press are not sure he wants to move.
That's absolutely crazy. Good player but £20m in the championship is just hard to fathom
Think parachute money
Parachute and a bit of the £30m for Liam Delap makes it a bit more feasible , it's just a silly amount of money to think about anyone spending in the championship on one player.
Maybe I am being biased cause we are in it, but this is looking like one of the strongest championships I can remember.
Staying up would be such an achievement, you can only assume as well that it will get even stronger next season based on how the prem looks now.
We might need a bit more juice
I think we need to remember that realistically we're not trying to compete with the Wrexhams of the league and never were - there will be a pretty clear top 8 or so sides fairly early on who who'll be fighting each other for autos/play-offs and we will not be amongst them.
So instead we need to be looking at the teams we are ACTUALLY competing with, which hopefully puts us somewhere in the middle ish, without much chance of changing league either direction.
And on that basis I think we're going to be okay, we'll probably take a while to get going with all the new faces but by the end of the season I expect to be safe quite comfortably.
Maybe I am being biased cause we are in it, but this is looking like one of the strongest championships I can remember.
Staying up would be such an achievement, you can only assume as well that it will get even stronger next season based on how the prem looks now.
We might need a bit more juice
I think we need to remember that realistically we're not trying to compete with the Wrexhams of the league and never were - there will be a pretty clear top 8 or so sides fairly early on who who'll be fighting each other for autos/play-offs and we will not be amongst them.
So instead we need to be looking at the teams we are ACTUALLY competing with, which hopefully puts us somewhere in the middle ish, without much chance of changing league either direction.
And on that basis I think we're going to be okay, we'll probably take a while to get going with all the new faces but by the end of the season I expect to be safe quite comfortably.
Whether or not we will be competing financially with Wrexham or not, isn't really relevant though. It isn't like League 1 where it was just them and Brum spending, it's more or less every team except a few, and most of them already have a settled Champ squad. We are still in the same league as these sides and need to take points (obviously). We could get away with not spending as much as Wrexham and Birmingham, as the rest of the league are mostly piss poor, isn't the same now. Of course it's not like we haven't done our bit anyway, we have really gone for it imo.
I don't believe for even one second we can get top 10 (if I say otherwise I am joking) but there will be a mini relegation table and we are in that I would say. It gives me a lot of hope that we are spending, and I am now fairly confident we could finish above Hull, Wednesday, Preston, Pompey and Oxford, who I see as the weak links in this league now, it would just be nice to see a bit more financial muscle to increase those odds if we can, as we are so close to having a very good side that we could build on for years.
A lot of fans from those relegation candidate teams have gone from writing us off, to worrying about us, which is nice to see, more of the same hopefully before the window slams shut.
As much as I've bantered Kone, and said Godden was better (which was true last season)
Whoever picks him up has a great player potentially. Other than Sam Smith, and our own Charlie Kelman, I felt he was the best we played against last year and hard to ignore his form before Wycombe lost Bloomfield.
Really physical, quick, looks sharp. With the right coaching I could see him being really good, only 22. £5 million seems steep, but I could easily see him adjusting to the Championship in a better side.
As much as I've bantered Kone, and said Godden was better (which was true last season)
Whoever picks him up has a great player potentially. Other than Sam Smith, and our own Charlie Kelman, I felt he was the best we played against last year and hard to ignore his form before Wycombe lost Bloomfield.
Really physical, quick, looks sharp. With the right coaching I could see him being really good, only 22. £5 million seems steep, but I could easily see him adjusting to the Championship in a better side.
Looks like Preston have offered £3 million, according to the BBC. Shame we did not try for him at that price.
As much as I've bantered Kone, and said Godden was better (which was true last season)
Whoever picks him up has a great player potentially. Other than Sam Smith, and our own Charlie Kelman, I felt he was the best we played against last year and hard to ignore his form before Wycombe lost Bloomfield.
Really physical, quick, looks sharp. With the right coaching I could see him being really good, only 22. £5 million seems steep, but I could easily see him adjusting to the Championship in a better side.
Looks like Preston have offered £3 million, according to the BBC. Shame we did not try for him at that price.
I don't see Wycombe accepting 3 million, asking for 5.
I hope he doesn't go to Preston as he will improve them, would rather it be Swansea if it is a championship side.
Shame as you say, but we have signed 3 forwards for roughly 7-8 million, can't complain
Maybe I am being biased cause we are in it, but this is looking like one of the strongest championships I can remember.
Staying up would be such an achievement, you can only assume as well that it will get even stronger next season based on how the prem looks now.
We might need a bit more juice
I think we need to remember that realistically we're not trying to compete with the Wrexhams of the league and never were - there will be a pretty clear top 8 or so sides fairly early on who who'll be fighting each other for autos/play-offs and we will not be amongst them.
So instead we need to be looking at the teams we are ACTUALLY competing with, which hopefully puts us somewhere in the middle ish, without much chance of changing league either direction.
And on that basis I think we're going to be okay, we'll probably take a while to get going with all the new faces but by the end of the season I expect to be safe quite comfortably.
Whether or not we will be competing financially with Wrexham or not, isn't really relevant though. It isn't like League 1 where it was just them and Brum spending, it's more or less every team except a few, and most of them already have a settled Champ squad. We are still in the same league as these sides and need to take points (obviously). We could get away with not spending as much as Wrexham and Birmingham, as the rest of the league are mostly piss poor, isn't the same now. Of course it's not like we haven't done our bit anyway, we have really gone for it imo.
I don't believe for even one second we can get top 10 (if I say otherwise I am joking) but there will be a mini relegation table and we are in that I would say. It gives me a lot of hope that we are spending, and I am now fairly confident we could finish above Hull, Wednesday, Preston, Pompey and Oxford, who I see as the weak links in this league now, it would just be nice to see a bit more financial muscle to increase those odds if we can, as we are so close to having a very good side that we could build on for years.
A lot of fans from those relegation candidate teams have gone from writing us off, to worrying about us, which is nice to see, more of the same hopefully before the window slams shut.
I don't mean competing financially, I mean competing full stop. In any way. There are very definitely going to be teams in the league that are measurably and definitively better than us. Wrexham are most likely going to be amongst them, due to their spending.
Those teams we'll have to fight for every point we get and realistically we probably we'll be glad for a scrappy point. It isn't going to be much fun but if anyone can get a team fired up for a scrap it's Nathan Jones.
The points that will actually keep us up will be against the likes of Portsmouth, Preston etc.
The top end of the league is very strong. We can't really expect to compete with some of those teams. But if we view survival and somewhere towards the top of the bottom third as a decent finish (which I do) I think our chances are fine.
As much as I've bantered Kone, and said Godden was better (which was true last season)
Whoever picks him up has a great player potentially. Other than Sam Smith, and our own Charlie Kelman, I felt he was the best we played against last year and hard to ignore his form before Wycombe lost Bloomfield.
Really physical, quick, looks sharp. With the right coaching I could see him being really good, only 22. £5 million seems steep, but I could easily see him adjusting to the Championship in a better side.
Kone looked terrifying when he came on as a sub in the league game at The Valley but was very quiet in the 2 games at theirs.
Transfers in as of end of 30 July 2025: 123 by 23 Teams (League One, 26 July 2024 - 182 signings by 23 Teams, Charlton with 7) Most signings: Birmingham, Norwich, Preston & Watford (9) Least signings: 1 Team (0)
Teams with 7+ signings: 6 Teams with 5+ signings: 12 Teams with 3+ signings: 21
Fee paid/Undisclosed: 61 Free: 44 Loan: 18
Birmingham: 9 Alfons Sampsted - FC Twente (Undisclosed) Phil Neumann - Hannover (Free) James Beadle - Brighton (Loan) Tommy Doyle - Wolves (Loan) Demarai Gray - Al-Ettifaq (Undisclosed) Bright Osayi-Samuel - Fenerbahce (Free) Kyogo Furuhashi - Rennes (Undisclosed) Kanya Fujimoto - Gil Vicente (Free) Eiran Cashin - Brighton (Loan)
Blackburn: 4 Dion De Neve - KV Kortrijk (Undisclosed) Sidnei Taveres - Moreirense (Undisclosed) Ryan Alebiosu - KV Kortrijk (Undisclosed) Sean McLoughlin - Hull (Undisclosed)
Bristol City: 4 Adam Randell - Plymouth (Undisclosed) Joe Lumley - Southampton (Free) Emil Riis Jakobsen - Preston (Free) Radek Vitek - Loan (Manchester United)
Charlton: 8 Sonny Carey - Blackpool (Free) Thomas Kaminski - Luton (Undisclosed) Tanto Olaofe - Stockport (Undisclosed) Amari'i Bell - Luton (Free) Reece Burke - Luton (Undisclosed) Joe Rankin-Costello - Blackburn (Undisclosed) Rob Apter - Blackpool (Undisclosed) Charlie Kelman - QPR (Undisclosed)
Coventry: 3 Miguel Angel Brau - Granada (Free) Kaine Kesler-Hayden - Aston Villa (Undisclosed) Carl Rushworth - Brighton (Loan)
Derby: 7 Carlton Morris - Luton (Undisclosed) Andreas Weimann - Blackburn (Free) Danny Batth - Blackburn (Free) Richard O'Donnell - Blackpool (Free) Patrick Agyemang - Charlotte FC (Undisclosed) Owen Beck - Liverpool (Loan) David Ozoh - Crystal Palace (Loan)
Hull: 6 Gustavo Puerta - Bayer Leverkusen (Free) Reda Laalaoui - Fath Union Sport (Undisclosed) Dillon Phillips - Rotherham (Free) Semi Ajayi - West Brom (Free) Akin Famewo - Sheffield Wednesday (Free) Joel Ndala - Manchester City (Loan)
Norwich: 9 Jacob Wright - Manchester City (£2.3m) Dan Grimshaw - Plymouth (Undisclosed) Harry Darling - Swansea (Free) Louie Moulden - Crystal Palace (Free) Jakov Medic - Ajax (Undisclosed) Vladan Kovacevic - Sporting Lisbon (Undisclosed) Mathias Kvistgaarden - Brondby (£6.9m) Papa Amadou Diallo - Metz (£4.3m) Jeffrey Schlupp - Crystal Palace (Free)
Oxford: 3 Brian De Keersmaecker - Heracles (Undisclosed) Brodie Spencer - Huddersfield (Undisclosed) Luke Harris - Fulham (Loan)
Portsmouth: 4 Adrian Segecic - Sydney FC (Undisclosed) John Swift - West Brom (Free) Luke LeRoux - IFK Varnamo (Undisclosed) Mark Koznovszky - MTK Budapest (Undisclosed)
Preston: 9 Jordan Thompson - Stoke (Free) Pol Valentin - Sheffield Wednesday (Free) Thierry Small - Charlton (Free) Daniel Iversen - Leicester (Free) Daniel Jebbison - Bournemouth (Loan) Odel Offiah - Brighton (Undisclosed) Michael Smith - Sheffield Wednesday (Free) Jack Walton - Luton (Undisclosed) Andrija Vukcevic - Juarez (Free)
Stoke: 6 Sorba Thomas - Huddersfield (Undisclosed) Maksym Talovierov - Plymouth (Undisclosed) Divin Mubama - Manchester City (Loan) Aaron Cresswell - West Ham (Free) Ashley Phillips - Tottenham (Loan) Robert Bozenik - Boavista (Free)
Swansea: 5 Cameron Burgess - Ipswich (Free) Ricardo Santos - Bolton (Free) Bobby Wales - Kilmarnock (Undisclosed) Zeidane Inoussa - BK Hacken (Undisclosed) Ethan Galbraith - Leyton Orient (Undisclosed)
West Brom: 4 Nat Phillips - Liverpool (Undisclosed) Jack Bray - Harrogate (Undisclosed) Aune Heggebo - SK Brann (Undisclosed) George Campbell - Montreal (Undisclosed)
Wrexham: 6 Ryan Hardie - Plymouth (Undisclosed) Danny Ward - Leicester (Free) Liberato Cacace - Empoli (Undisclosed) George Thomason - Bolton (Undisclosed) Josh Windass - Sheffield Wednesday (Free) Lewis O'Brien - Nottingham Forest (Undisclosed)
*Over 18, but initially will be in the development squad
Comments
So far, just in this window - before Knibbs, Broadhead, Moore, whoever else we all sign, us, Birmingham and Wrexham have spent €25.2m.
It feels like all 3 newly promoted sides are just spending without any significant outgoings
Staying up would be such an achievement, you can only assume as well that it will get even stronger next season based on how the prem looks now.
We might need a bit more juice
So instead we need to be looking at the teams we are ACTUALLY competing with, which hopefully puts us somewhere in the middle ish, without much chance of changing league either direction.
And on that basis I think we're going to be okay, we'll probably take a while to get going with all the new faces but by the end of the season I expect to be safe quite comfortably.
I don't believe for even one second we can get top 10 (if I say otherwise I am joking) but there will be a mini relegation table and we are in that I would say. It gives me a lot of hope that we are spending, and I am now fairly confident we could finish above Hull, Wednesday, Preston, Pompey and Oxford, who I see as the weak links in this league now, it would just be nice to see a bit more financial muscle to increase those odds if we can, as we are so close to having a very good side that we could build on for years.
A lot of fans from those relegation candidate teams have gone from writing us off, to worrying about us, which is nice to see, more of the same hopefully before the window slams shut.
Whoever picks him up has a great player potentially. Other than Sam Smith, and our own Charlie Kelman, I felt he was the best we played against last year and hard to ignore his form before Wycombe lost Bloomfield.
Really physical, quick, looks sharp. With the right coaching I could see him being really good, only 22. £5 million seems steep, but I could easily see him adjusting to the Championship in a better side.
I hope he doesn't go to Preston as he will improve them, would rather it be Swansea if it is a championship side.
Shame as you say, but we have signed 3 forwards for roughly 7-8 million, can't complain
Those teams we'll have to fight for every point we get and realistically we probably we'll be glad for a scrappy point. It isn't going to be much fun but if anyone can get a team fired up for a scrap it's Nathan Jones.
The points that will actually keep us up will be against the likes of Portsmouth, Preston etc.
The top end of the league is very strong. We can't really expect to compete with some of those teams. But if we view survival and somewhere towards the top of the bottom third as a decent finish (which I do) I think our chances are fine.
Most signings: Birmingham, Norwich, Preston & Watford (9)
Least signings: 1 Team (0)
Teams with 7+ signings: 6
Teams with 5+ signings: 12
Teams with 3+ signings: 21
Fee paid/Undisclosed: 61
Free: 44
Loan: 18
Birmingham: 9
Alfons Sampsted - FC Twente (Undisclosed)
Phil Neumann - Hannover (Free)
James Beadle - Brighton (Loan)
Tommy Doyle - Wolves (Loan)
Demarai Gray - Al-Ettifaq (Undisclosed)
Bright Osayi-Samuel - Fenerbahce (Free)
Kyogo Furuhashi - Rennes (Undisclosed)
Kanya Fujimoto - Gil Vicente (Free)
Eiran Cashin - Brighton (Loan)
Blackburn: 4
Dion De Neve - KV Kortrijk (Undisclosed)
Sidnei Taveres - Moreirense (Undisclosed)
Ryan Alebiosu - KV Kortrijk (Undisclosed)
Sean McLoughlin - Hull (Undisclosed)
Bristol City: 4
Adam Randell - Plymouth (Undisclosed)
Joe Lumley - Southampton (Free)
Emil Riis Jakobsen - Preston (Free)
Radek Vitek - Loan (Manchester United)
Charlton: 8
Sonny Carey - Blackpool (Free)
Thomas Kaminski - Luton (Undisclosed)
Tanto Olaofe - Stockport (Undisclosed)
Amari'i Bell - Luton (Free)
Reece Burke - Luton (Undisclosed)
Joe Rankin-Costello - Blackburn (Undisclosed)
Rob Apter - Blackpool (Undisclosed)
Charlie Kelman - QPR (Undisclosed)
Coventry: 3
Miguel Angel Brau - Granada (Free)
Kaine Kesler-Hayden - Aston Villa (Undisclosed)
Carl Rushworth - Brighton (Loan)
Derby: 7
Carlton Morris - Luton (Undisclosed)
Andreas Weimann - Blackburn (Free)
Danny Batth - Blackburn (Free)
Richard O'Donnell - Blackpool (Free)
Patrick Agyemang - Charlotte FC (Undisclosed)
Owen Beck - Liverpool (Loan)
David Ozoh - Crystal Palace (Loan)
Hull: 6
Gustavo Puerta - Bayer Leverkusen (Free)
Reda Laalaoui - Fath Union Sport (Undisclosed)
Dillon Phillips - Rotherham (Free)
Semi Ajayi - West Brom (Free)
Akin Famewo - Sheffield Wednesday (Free)
Joel Ndala - Manchester City (Loan)
Ipswich: 4
David Button - Reading (Free)
Cedric Kipre - Reims (Loan)
Azor Matusiwa - Rennes (Undisclosed)
Ashley Young - Everton (Free)
Leicester: 1
Asmir Begovic - Everton (Free)
Middlesbrough: 4
*Owen Foster - Hull (Free)
*Archie Baptiste - Tottenham (Free)
Alfie Jones - Hull (Undisclosed)
Abdoulaye Kante - Troyes (Undisclosed)
Millwall: 6
Max Crocombe - Burton (Free)
Josh Coburn - Middlesbrough (Undisclosed)
Zak Sturge - Chelsea (Undisclosed)
Massimo Luongo - Ipswich (Free)
Steven Benda - Fulham (Loan)
Alfie Doughty - Luton (Undisclosed)
Norwich: 9
Jacob Wright - Manchester City (£2.3m)
Dan Grimshaw - Plymouth (Undisclosed)
Harry Darling - Swansea (Free)
Louie Moulden - Crystal Palace (Free)
Jakov Medic - Ajax (Undisclosed)
Vladan Kovacevic - Sporting Lisbon (Undisclosed)
Mathias Kvistgaarden - Brondby (£6.9m)
Papa Amadou Diallo - Metz (£4.3m)
Jeffrey Schlupp - Crystal Palace (Free)
Oxford: 3
Brian De Keersmaecker - Heracles (Undisclosed)
Brodie Spencer - Huddersfield (Undisclosed)
Luke Harris - Fulham (Loan)
Portsmouth: 4
Adrian Segecic - Sydney FC (Undisclosed)
John Swift - West Brom (Free)
Luke LeRoux - IFK Varnamo (Undisclosed)
Mark Koznovszky - MTK Budapest (Undisclosed)
Preston: 9
Jordan Thompson - Stoke (Free)
Pol Valentin - Sheffield Wednesday (Free)
Thierry Small - Charlton (Free)
Daniel Iversen - Leicester (Free)
Daniel Jebbison - Bournemouth (Loan)
Odel Offiah - Brighton (Undisclosed)
Michael Smith - Sheffield Wednesday (Free)
Jack Walton - Luton (Undisclosed)
Andrija Vukcevic - Juarez (Free)
QPR: 6
Karamoko Dembele - Brest (Undisclosed)
Amadou Mbengue - Reading (Free)
Kealey Adamson - Macarthur (Undisclosed)
Kwame Poku - Peterborough (Undisclosed)
*Tylon Smith - Stellenbosch FC (Undisclosed)
Rumarn Burrell - Burton (Undisclosed)
Sheffield Utd: 4
Ehije Ukaki - Botev Plovdiv (Undisclosed)
Tyler Bindon - Nottingham Forest (Loan)
Louie Barry - Aston Villa (Loan)
Anton Polendakov - Septemvri Sofia (Free)
Sheffield Wednesday: N/A
Southampton: 2
Joshua Quarshie - Hoffenheim (£3.5m)
Damion Downs - FC Koln (£7m)
Stoke: 6
Sorba Thomas - Huddersfield (Undisclosed)
Maksym Talovierov - Plymouth (Undisclosed)
Divin Mubama - Manchester City (Loan)
Aaron Cresswell - West Ham (Free)
Ashley Phillips - Tottenham (Loan)
Robert Bozenik - Boavista (Free)
Swansea: 5
Cameron Burgess - Ipswich (Free)
Ricardo Santos - Bolton (Free)
Bobby Wales - Kilmarnock (Undisclosed)
Zeidane Inoussa - BK Hacken (Undisclosed)
Ethan Galbraith - Leyton Orient (Undisclosed)
Watford: 9
Hector Kyprianou - Peterborough (Free)
Nathan Baxter - Bolton (Free)
Marc Bola - Samsunpor (Free)
James Abankwah - Udinese (Loan)
Vivaldo Semedo - Udinese (Undisclosed)
Othmane Maamaa - Montpellier (Undisclosed)
Luca Kjerrumgaard - Udinese (Loan)
Nestroy Irankunda - Bayern Munich (Undisclosed)
Caleb Wiley - Chelsea (Loan)
West Brom: 4
Nat Phillips - Liverpool (Undisclosed)
Jack Bray - Harrogate (Undisclosed)
Aune Heggebo - SK Brann (Undisclosed)
George Campbell - Montreal (Undisclosed)
Wrexham: 6
Ryan Hardie - Plymouth (Undisclosed)
Danny Ward - Leicester (Free)
Liberato Cacace - Empoli (Undisclosed)
George Thomason - Bolton (Undisclosed)
Josh Windass - Sheffield Wednesday (Free)
Lewis O'Brien - Nottingham Forest (Undisclosed)
*Over 18, but initially will be in the development squad