Ranking every Championship club by their transfer market value: Leeds 3rd…
The 2023-24 Championship season is almost underway and as ever there’s a massive discrepancy between the clubs in the division in terms of how their squads are valued.
Recently-relegated trio Southampton, Leicester City and Leeds United boast by far and away the most valuable sides in the second tier, having all had Premier League budgets to play with in recent years.
Since going up in 2020, Leeds have spent £130million on players that will play no part under Daniel Farke in the upcoming season.
Despite that, they still have a number of lucrative assets – such as Jack Harrison, Luis Sinisterra and Tyler Adams – that would prove immensely valuable to a potential promotion push if they stay put.
Southampton’s strategy pivot to build a younger squad might not have worked on the pitch, but it leaves them in a healthy state financially, with the likes of Romeo Lavia, Tino Libramento and Armel Bella-Kotchap worth considerably more than the fees they were originally bought for.
Saints’ long-serving club captain James Ward-Prowse is also still at the club – for now – and the England international is currently judged to be the most valuable player in the Championship.
Leicester City might have lost Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Youri Tielemans but the remaining members of their squad at still valued at almost €300million – new boss Enzo Maresca should have the tools at his disposal for a decent stab at the top spot.
Elsewhere, Norwich, Watford and West Brom still have the residual Premier League cash and parachute payments to possess squads at the more valuable end of the scale, if still only a fraction of the three sides that have just come down.
At the other end of the scale, the three sides that have recently come up from League One – Ipswich, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday – built their squads for a relative shoestring and are collectively valued at less than the likes of Lavia, Ward-Prowse, Ndidi and Harrison alone.
Here’s how the Championship squad values break down in full, with figures from Transfermarkt. It’s worth noting that with the transfer window open for another month, these figures are liable to change dramatically come September.
1. Southampton – €362.7million
2. Leicester City – €292.7million
3. Leeds United – €233.4million
4. Norwich City – €98.3million
5. Watford – €74.4million
6. West Brom – €61.8million
7. Sunderland – €59.4million
8. Middlesbrough – €59.1million
9. Hull City – €58.7million
10. Swansea City – €56.9million
11. Blackburn Rovers – €56.7million
12. Bristol City – €52.2million
13. Cardiff City – €49.9million
14. Stoke City – €46.8million
15. Birmingham City – €45.5million
16. Coventry City – €44.3million
17. Preston North End – €41.1million
18. Millwall – €35.5million
19. Queens Park Rangers – €35million
20. Huddersfield Town – €26.5million
21. Ipswich Town – €19.4million
22. Rotherham United – €16.7million
23. Plymouth Argyle – €13.4million
24. Sheffield Wednesday – €12.6million
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