Rating every Championship club’s Summer transfer window

After the conclusion of the Summer transfer window, I will look into every Championship side’s window and determine the team who had the strongest window.

It was a busy summer in the Championship, with over 200 signings recruited.

Some clubs were significantly more active than others. However, the quality of recruitment is what matters, not the number of signings.

So, without further ado, here’s my rankings of every Championship club’s Summer transfer window.

Interestingly, all of the recently relegated teams sit at average or below in my rankings. I’ll expand on each section one by one, starting at the bottom.

Awful Window

In the bottom tier of my rankings, I’ve got three of the most inactive teams this window. These teams are Watford, West Bromwich Albion and Huddersfield Town.

Starting with Huddersfield, the lack of activity is concerning – just four new signings joined the club.

None are brilliant signings and manager Neil Warnock made it clear the owners haven’t backed him. This season could be tough for the Terriers.

Understandably, this window would be difficult for Carlos Corberan and West Brom, with the financial predicament at The Hawthorns. However, I fear for their squad depth, with the significant amount of players leaving and just three entering the club.

Watford sold two of their big stars in Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr. Mileta Rajovic looks to be a decent signing. However, this summer’s recruitment leaves little to be excited about at Vicarage Road.

Poor Window

Swansea City seem to have a pattern of selling key players and struggling to replace. That’s evident this season, with Joel Piroe leaving. The Swans seem to be keen on selling but not so keen on reinvesting.

Sheffield Wednesday brought in 12 players in total, including some interesting young players joining from Europe. However, a lack of proven Championship quality makes me fearful for the Owls.

Queens Park Rangers are next – a team who could very easily be placed in the awful section. A lack of quality has entered the R’s. However, keeping Ilias Chair makes this a slightly better window than awful in my opinion.

At Middlesbrough, Chuba Akpom departed to Ajax, while Ryan Giles, Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey all returned to their parent clubs. The club have recruited in an attempt to replace the players, however I’m not overly convinced by any of the replacements.

Boro’s rivals, Sunderland, are next – with the Black Cats signing plenty of young, promising talent. However, a lack of experience is noticeable in the Sunderland squad, which is much needed in a youthful squad.

Finally for this section, and most notably, I have Southampton. With the Saints, I feel it’s a case of – they’ve sold brilliantly, but recruited less impressively.

The club may be trying to save money for, what they expect, to be an imminent return to the Premier League. However, the lack of quality reinvestment does make me slightly more fearful for the Saints.

Average Window

Starting at Blackburn Rovers, I feel they’ve explored the European market well with a number of decent signings, on paper. However, I feel the team does look weaker after losing Ben Brereton Diaz on a free transfer.

Bristol City sold Alex Scott for over £20 million, but failed to reinvest those funds. The likes of Jason Knight, Ross McCrorie and Rob Dickie look like very solid signings, but I feel this could have been a stronger window for The Robins.

Ipswich Town follow, with a focus on youthful recruitment – Dane Scarlett and Brandon Williams joining on loan. However, I feel a lack of permanent signings make this an average window for The Tractor Boys.

East-Anglian friends, Norwich, follow – who did very much the opposite to Ipswich. The Canaries had a focus on signing experienced players like Ashley Barnes. However, losing Andrew Omobamidele and Max Aarons makes the window just average in my opinion.

Controversially, I’ve got Leeds United in this category. Based on signings, I feel this window was very strong for Leeds – with Piroe, Ethan Ampadu and Djed Spence all being brilliant signings. However, awful loan clauses have prevented Leeds earning money for the players who didn’t fancy a season in the second tier.

Rotherham United sit next, losing Chiedozie Ogbene and Wes Harding on free deals, which is disappointing. However, I like the signing of Sam Nombe from Exeter City. The Millers have also recruited a good mix of youth and experience.

Finally, I have the Leicester City. Like Southampton, in terms of selling, Leicester have done brilliantly – earning around £100M from departures. However, their signings are not as convincing.

Conor Coady and Harry Winks are solid, experienced signings – which I analysed further here. I really like the look of Stephy Mavididi and Tom Cannon. But overall, I feel more could have been done.

Good Window

Starting with the Tigers, Hull City have attacked the market with intent. I really like the signing of Jaden Philogene from Aston Villa, who looks promising. The only note-worthy departure was Oscar Estupinan, who was out of favour.

Travelling to Wales next, Cardiff City have had a sensational window. Considering not a penny was spent in transfer fees, signing Aaron Ramsey is sensational – while the likes of Karlan Grant, Jonathan Panzo and Ike Ugbo look quality.

Newly promoted Plymouth Argyle had a good window, simply due to two permanent signings. If you hadn’t guessed, I’m referring to Bali Mumba and Morgan Whittaker who were essential to Argyle’s success last season.

The Sky Blues are next, and Coventry City have made some superb signings. Haji Wright and Ellis Simms are two standout additions in attack. The only reason I don’t have Coventry higher is due to the fact that I feel the club haven’t replaced Gustavo Hamer effectively enough.

Preston North End have had a superb start to the season, with new signings Will Keane and Mads Frökjaer-Jensen playing crucial parts in Preston’s unbeaten start. I’m holding out to see if Preston can continue their form, but initial signs suggest that they have recruited well.

Last up, I’ve got The Lions, Millwall. The signings of Kevin Nisbet, De-Norre and Joe Bryan look quality. While Allan Campbell and Brooke Norton-Cuffy are strong loan additions. Keeping Zian Flemming is also impressive, however I feel Millwall needed more depth in defence to make it amazing.

Amazing Window

Birmingham City are the first of two teams I’ve got in the top tier. It’s a summer of positivity for the Midlands club, with Tom Brady becoming a minority owner at the Blues.

The signings have been brilliant, with game changers such as Jay Stansfield, Siriki Dembele and Koji Miyoshi joining, along with a host of quality permanent and loan signings.

Tahith Chong and Jude Bellingham’s younger brother, Jobe, left for fees sitting at around £6M in total. The two sales funded Birmingham’s strong summer acquisitions.

Finally, is Stoke City, a team I’ve been a big fan of from early stages of the window.

The Potters crafted plenty of signings, with ranging age and experience. The mix of Championship quality, Premier League experience and bargain European pick ups help fuel my optimism for Stoke.

Undeniably, I feel the signings are very much high risk, high reward and we’ve seen Stoke spend big to finish mid table previously.

But something feels different at Stoke this season. This helped build my case for predicting Stoke to be a surprise package in the Championship this season.

That wraps up my analysis of the Championship Transfer WIndow. Let me know your thoughts on the draw by tweeting us @Tommy__MFC and @DubSportss!