This should be a big year for Jarrod Bowen, Zan Vipotnik, Ethan Galbraith, Lorent Tolaj, Léo Scienza, Othmane Maamma and Mason Melia
The Championship, often called the most exciting league in football, is also among the least predictable competitions in Europe. It’s the perfect stage for players to show off their talent before progressing to top-flight football. We’ve picked seven players we’re excited to see in the Championship this season.
Bowen is the best player in the Championship. The West Ham captain, who has seemingly committed his future to the club, will be aiming to fire them back to the top flight. Across the last three seasons, only seven players scored more Premier League goals than Bowen (38), while his 25 assists were bettered by only Bruno Fernandes (39) and Mohamed Salah (35).
Bowen has 65 goals and 49 assists in 231 top-flight games with West Ham, making him the player with the most Premier League goal involvements (114) for the club. This season will be his first outside the top tier since he was at Hull City in 2019-20.
In his final three seasons at Hull, Bowen was involved in more goals (64: 52 goals, 12 assists) than any other player in the Championship. Expect more of the same this season.
Few expected Vipotnik to finish as the top scorer in the Championship last season given he had only scored seven times in 42 league appearances for Swansea in his first campaign in the division. But he was a thorn in the side of many defences in 2025-26, scoring 23 goals even though Swansea had a fairly ordinary campaign, finishing 11th and nine points off the playoffs.
The Swans were heavily reliant on the Slovenian, who scored 40.4% of their goals (23 of 57); no one else managed more than six. The arrival of Ross Stewart from Southampton may help Vipotnik, as the Scottish forward averaged the second-most goals per 90 minutes (0.73) in the Championship last season (800+ mins played).
Vipotnik has been linked to Hull City, newly promoted to the Premier League. If he stays at Swansea, he could become the first player to score 20+ league goals in successive Championship seasons since Marlon Harewood in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
It was a surprise when Swansea allowed midfielder Galbraith to join Championship rivals for £10m this summer. True, it’s a lot of money for a player who has played just one season of Championship football, but it could be a worthwhile investment.
Galbraith joined Swansea from Leyton Orient last summer and was one of their most composed players in possession. Technically gifted, Galbraith displays a lot of calm on the ball. He completed more passes per 90 minutes than any other Swansea midfielder or forward in the Championship last season (49.6); he also regained possession from opponents more times than any of his teammates (201).
The Northern Ireland midfielder will face Swansea in his first match of the season on Saturday afternoon. He’ll be trying to get Stoke off to a promising start while reminding Swansea fans what they are missing.
This will be a fourth successive season of progression for Tolaj. He played in the National League in 2023-24 for Aldershot (scoring 19 goals), moved to League Two with Port Vale during 2024-25 (when he scored 14 goals), then jumped up to League One last season, scoring 18 goals – one for Port Vale and 17 for Plymouth. Now he’s going to test himself in the Championship after a £4m move to Bristol City.
Not only did Tolaj finish last season as the fourth top scorer in League One, he also made eight assists (a tally only beaten by six players). Only Dom Ballard (27) was involved in more goals than Tolaj (26) in the third tier; they will be teammates this season after Ballard joined Bristol City from Leyton Orient.
Being a high-volume shooter helped his goal tally, with Tolaj’s 113 shots more than any other player in League One last season. He averaged 3.7 shots per 90 minutes – a figure that only Aaron Connolly bettered.
Scienza had a big impact at Southampton after joining the club from Heidenheim last September. With 10 assists in 39 league matches, Scienza was Southampton’s leading assister in the Championship. The Brazil-born forward also scored seven goals.
