Player Focus: The Most In-Demand Championship Players

As we edge closer to the start of the January transfer window, clubs throughout the leagues will be hoping to hang on to their best talent in the face of interest from the bigger sides. Boasting a steady supply of homegrown, exciting talent, the Championship often finds itself as the ideal shopping centre for Premier League clubs.

While there is an argument to suggest the best business isn't usually done in January, that doesn't stop Premier League clubs from often breaking the bank. But with the promotion race still extremely open in the Championship, clubs will have to consider their options, and the likes of BETFAIR will be closely monitoring how those front runners fare. So which players can we expect to be the subject of interest from the Premier League?

Will Hughes (Derby County) – WhoScored rating 7.02

Still only 19-years old, Hughes has been on the radar of Premier League clubs for the past couple of years. The midfielder has been a regular in the Derby first team for the past three seasons, establishing himself as one of the hottest young prospects outside the top flight. A creative playmaker, Hughes, who has been earning rave reviews from boss Steve McClaren, boasts a decent 87.0% pass success rate this season, which puts him among the Championship’s top 15 players in that discipline, while he has also contributed 2 goals and 2 assists. Hughes has already racked up more than 100 appearances for Derby, as well as winning 12 England Under-21 caps with a 100% victory record in those internationals.

Britt Assombalonga (Nottingham Forest) – 6.98

It’s been quite a turnaround for Britt Assombalonga since leaving Watford for Peterborough in 2013. During his only season at London Road, Assombalonga scored goals for fun and the striker’s exploits were enough to convince Nottingham Forest to pay £5.5 million in order to sign the youngster. Assombalonga has since certainly gone some way to repaying his sizeable transfer fee, despite Stuart Pearce’s Forest slipping down the table. He is the youngest player in the Championship to average more than three shots per game and is always a threat; he has scored 12 goals, along with an assist, to gain Premier League attention.

Lewis Cook (Leeds United) – 6.69

Leeds United tend to produce more than their fair share of exciting young talents. While the likes of Sam Byram, Alex Mowatt and Charlie Taylor have come through the ranks and established themselves in the past couple of years, it has been Lewis Cook who has really caught the eye this season. The teenage defensive midfielder averages 1.8 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game this season but also only commits on average 1 foul per game. That puts Cook among Leeds’ five most efficient players in those areas and it is a great sign for the future considering he is still only 17 years old.

Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) – 7.13

On the back of an impressive season for Coventry in which he scored 22 goals, Bournemouth shelled out a rumoured £3 million fee in order to take Callum Wilson to the south coast. During his short time with the Cherries, Wilson has gone some way to justifying his price tag, scoring 9 league goals, providing 4 assists and averaging 2.6 shots per game to play a key role as top scorer in Bournemouth’s incredible first half of the season. The striker’s form for Eddie Howe’s men, which includes 1.1 successful dribbles per game – more than any of his Bournemouth team-mates – earned him a call-up to the England Under-21 squad at the start of November.

Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) – 6.63

Much of Ben Gibson’s career has been spent out on loan and the benefit of gaining all that first-team experience has been evident in his performances in the Middlesbrough first team. The defender has been instrumental in Boro’s fantastic start to the season, making 1.6 interceptions per game along with 2.5 clearances, demonstrating he knows how to be in the right place at the right time, and he was recently voted their Young Player of the Year.

David Marshall (Cardiff City) – 6.66

David Marshall was one of the rare positives from Cardiff’s relegation season in the 2013/14 Premier League. While few players came out of that campaign with their reputations enhanced, Marshall’s heroics in goal did not go unnoticed. Reports of Marshall facing a hernia operation have been dismissed and he has played all 20 of Cardiff’s league games so far this season, keeping four clean sheets in the process and helping his club to a joint-best record of home wins (7).

Daryl Murphy (Ipswich Town) – 7.38

After successive loan spells with the club, Daryl Murphy made his move to Ipswich permanent last year. Murphy has burst out of the traps this season, scoring 13 league goals to make him the Championship’s current top scorer, earning four WhoScored man of the match awards and helping give Ipswich a real hope of promotion. At the age of 31, there might not be the same push for his signature but no player in the Championship averages more than his total of 3.8 shots per game and that sort of firepower could see Premier League clubs calling.

Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) – 6.84

While there still remain those who don’t believe Jordan Rhodes would be able to score on a regular basis in the Premier League, the Blackburn striker’s return of 7 goals and 3 assists from 20 Championship appearances this season suggest he could give it a decent go. After scoring 73 league goals in 124 appearances for Huddersfield, Rhodes made a big-money move to Blackburn in 2012. With 59 goals to his name since switching to Ewood Park, Rhodes, despite a slightly inconsistent current season, has responded with 2.6 shots per game to put him among Blackburn’s top three players in that regard.

Nathan Redmond (Norwich City) – 7.51

Norwich’s return to the Premier League may have been fleeting but there were positives for the club’s fans. At the top of the list would probably be Nathan Redmond, who made the move to Norwich following their promotion to the Premier League and looked at home. The England Under-21 international averages more successful dribbles per match (3.1) than any other player in the Championship this season and only Birmingham’s David Cotterill (3.6) averages more key passes per game than him (3.4). That has led to reports of a potential £10 million move to Liverpool.

Would you like to see any of these players join your club? Let us know in the comments below