Sport
5 Championship stars ready to step up
Southampton have turned to the Championship to replace Danny Ings after the striker joined Aston Villa, with Adam Armstrong joining from Blackburn Rovers in a £15 million deal. The Saints have shopped in that market before, bringing in Che Adams, and despite the Championship getting under way last weekend more of the league’s stars could yet move on. Here, we pick out five Championship stars who are ready to make the step up to the Premier League. Will any of them get a switch to the top-flight before the window shuts?
5 Championship stars ready to step up
Lucas Joao (Reading)
The Royals were the surprise package in the first half of the 2020-21 season, with Joao’s performances a key reason why they set the early pace a year ago. Although Reading fell away, Joao ended the season with 19 goals from his 39 league appearances, while contributing seven assists shows his creativity.
Joao, who will be 28 in September, has spent most of his career plugging away in the Championship and, in truth, a lot of the time he has struggled for consistency.
Things clicked for the former Sheffield Wednesday forward last term, though, and he was an absolute menace for Championship defenders. Twice capped by Portugal in 2015, Joao has perhaps yet to unlock his full potential and a move to the Premier League could do just that.
Kieffer Moore (Cardiff City)
Normally, scoring 20 goals in a season for a Championship club would be more than enough to put Championship stars on the radar of several Premier League clubs. But that does not seem to have happened with Moore, who was unable to build on a stellar campaign at Euro 2020 with Wales.
Moore would have hoped some star performances at the tournament would have catapulted him into the big time but, although he struck the equalising in Wales’ draw with Switzerland, that did not happen and he looks set to stay with the Bluebirds instead.
Age counts against Moore, with the late developer having recently celebrated his 29th birthday. Mick McCarthy’s assertion it would take “a lot of money” to buy Moore has shown that Cardiff are not willing to do a deal for their prize asset on the cheap, the Welsh side having paid a reported £2 million – which now looks a bargain – to sign him from Wigan Athletic last August.
Moore is also something of a throwback, a physical target man the likes of which are rarely seen in the Premier League these days. But it is easy to see him fitting in at a club like Burnley, while he could be an effective Plan B to throw on from the bench when a team is chasing a game.
Matt Grimes (Swansea City)
Fulham are reportedly leading the race to sign midfielder Grimes but it would not be a surprise if various Premier League clubs are keeping a close eye on developments in that deal. Southampton and Newcastle United are among the clubs previously linked with him.
Grimes has been virtually ever-present for Swansea in each of the past two seasons and, while he had a brief taste of Premier League action after joining the club from Exeter City a few years ago, he now looks to be a much more complete footballer.
With the 26-year-old now into the final year of his contract at the club, Swansea are under pressure to sell their captain now or risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season. A small fee for a leader with more than 200 league appearances under his belt is surely worth a punt for those Premier League clubs with tight budgets this summer due to the pandemic.
Callum Styles (Barnsley)
Barnsley have so far kept most of their squad together after surprisingly reaching the play-offs last term but Styles is one of the Championship Stars who they will do well to retain over the next few weeks.
The 21-year-old, who has been given the playful nickname of the ‘Bury Baggio’, collected the club’s Young Player of the Season award after chipping in with four goals and two assists.
Styles recorded 2.7 tackles per game on average in the Championship last season – in the division’s top three for that metric – showing the youngster’s combative nature. With an ability to play either in midfield or at full-back, Styles’ versatility is a big plus as well.
Jed Wallace (Millwall)
Wallace scored one of the best goals of the Championship’s opening round of games at the weekend, indicating strong speculation over his future is no distraction for the 27-year-old.
After scoring 10 goals in each of the past two Championship seasons, Wallace is primed to make the step up after spending six years at Millwall. He is in the last year of his contract.
Wallace has worked his way up through the leagues during his career and is ready to shine in the spotlight. Last term saw him contribute five assists as well as hitting double figures for league goals, but his contribution of nearly two key passes per game on average was only beaten by Emiliano Buendia.
The Argentine got a move from Norwich City to Aston Villa as a result and Wallace is one of the Championship stars deserving a chance to join him in the Premier League.
You could earn up to £10 (or currency equivalent) in bonus funds by joining Colossus with our New Player Bonus. Click here to join the action.
