The Five Best Signings In The Championship So Far

Transfer activity has been rather busy to say the least, especially in the Championship where sides are recruiting new talents, including some very noteworthy names.

With the teams in the Championship looking to build on their squads ahead of the start of the season, we look at the top five best signings made so far this transfer window.

Shea Charles

We start the round-up with the most expensive fee as of yet, and unsurprisingly, it comes from one of the recently relegated Premier League teams.

This transfer involves Southampton raiding Manchester City for their youth, something done frequently by the Saints last season.

Charles is a young 19-year-old midfielder with the ability to play in defence. The Northern Irishman has been capped by his nation, coming through the youth teams before making eight senior appearances, impressing with his mentality and maturity at such a young age.

The midfielder captained Manchester City in their Premier League 2 side, leading them to a third successive title and has previously linked up with Samuel Edozie, Romeo Lavia and Juan Larios during his time at the Citizens.

Overall, this seems a brilliant signing for the Saints, fitting with their ideology of recruiting and developing young talents. We’ve seen this work wonders with Lavia so expect similar with Shea Charles.

Harry Winks

Jumping from one recently relegated Premier League team to another. Leicester seem set to flex their wealth after selling James Maddison to Tottenham Hotspur and have recruited so far with the intent to keep their Championship stay brief but dominant after the signing of Harry Winks.

Winks has made 10 appearances for England whilst featuring over 200 times at Tottenham with appearances in Europe to boast during his time in North London.

Winks fell out of favour at Tottenham, leading to his loan departure to Sampdoria where he featured 20 times as Spurs decided to offload the 27-year-old midfielder.

At Championship level, Winks looks to be a very intelligent pick-up by promotion-chasing Leicester, who were looking to strengthen their midfield after losing Youri Tielemans and Maddison. Once again, the Foxes have recruited outstandingly.

Conor Coady

Signing one experienced Premier League star wasn’t enough for the Foxes as they came back for seconds and announced the signing of Conor Coady.

The signing of Coady is one of real intent, making over 170 appearances in the Premier League and boasting 10 international caps in a very competitive England defence.

Many were expecting the former Wolverhampton Wanderers captain to remain in the Premier League, perhaps joining the newly-promoted Luton Town or joining Everton on a permanent, so Leicester picking up the defender is a real coup on paper.

One concern is that a tactically slower backline could limit Enzo Maresca’s tactical capabilities, whereas perhaps a high-line style tactic could be less optimal with the likes of Coady and Souttar in the backline.

However, with the quality of a man like Coady both on and off the pitch, this signing seems absolutely sensational.

Aaron Ramsey

Don’t you just love a return to the club where it all began?

Back in 2006, a young man named Aaron Ramsey started his career at Cardiff City before joining Arsenal where he spent the bulk of his career. Spells at Juventus, Rangers and Nice followed but finally, the Welshman is home.

For Cardiff, they gain a leader, someone who has experience at the highest of levels and can guide the younger players whilst gaining regular playtime during the final few years of his career with the Welsh midfielder capped over 80 times by his country.

From a neutral perspective, there are some slight doubts over this deal. Ramsey is a quality addition on paper, but do they have the quality to finish the chances Ramsey will create?

How will Ramsey cope with the 46-game season?

These are all questions we’ll find out when the first ball is kicked, however, until then, we can only judge it off initial opinions so Cardiff fans should be very pleased.

Ellis Simms

Next up, we touch on Play-Off Finalists from last season, Coventry City, who have signed Ellis Simms, fighting off interest from numerous clubs.

The former Evertonian has over 20 goals in his career so far, impressing at Sunderland in his time up at the Black Cats. The striker is quick, powerful and has shown evidence of having an eye for goal.

On paper, the overall fee is set at £8 million, however, when you break this down, Coventry are only paying an initial £3.5 million. This is a brilliant deal for a young striker who’s hungry to prove he’s worthy of playing in the Premier League.

The signing seems to be a like-for-like replacement for Viktor Gyokeres who left for £24 million to join Sporting Lisbon. Considering the substantial fee Coventry got for Gyokeres to get a quality replacement for an initially cheap sum is incredible business.