7 brilliant players who are simply too good to be playing in the Championship
Stars from Norwich City, Sheffield United and Sunderland are among the seven brilliant players who are simply too good to be playing in the Championship.
The EFL Championship is a hotbed for rising stars and the league is currently home to plenty of top prospects and ready-made stars.
Ignoring some of the obvious names who have previously established themselves in one of Europe’s top five leagues, here are seven players who are simply too good to be playing in the Championship.
Borja Sainz
From James Maddison to Emi Buendia, Norwich City have quite a reputation when it comes to developing technical players in the Championship.
Sainz looks like their latest star in the making as the Spanish winger has already produced 17 goal contributions in just 21 appearances this season.
Given some of the worldies he’s scored, it’s no surprise that he’s been the biggest xG overperformer in the league this season, having scored 15 goals from an xG of just 8.4.
Galatasaray have reportedly been sniffing around of late and we wouldn’t be surprised if a few Premier League clubs have started to take notice of his eye-catching form.
Chris Rigg
Sunderland have produced plenty of quality players over the years, but Rigg is undoubtedly their biggest prospect in recent times. His potential is off the scale.
The 17-year-old has already established himself as one of the best midfielders in the Championship and unsurprisingly, plenty of top European sides have started to take notice.
Given he’s under contract at the Stadium of Light until 2027, it would take a mammoth bid to lure him away from Sunderland right now.
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Ao Tanaka
The Championship is currently home to several top Japanese players, but Tanaka is arguably the best of the bunch.
Leeds United managed to prize him away from Fortuna Dusseldorf in the summer for £3.4million which now looks like an absolute snip.
The 26-year-old has firmly established himself as part of the starting XI and if he maintains his current form, his future surely lies in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
Michael Cooper
Sheffield United landed one of the bargain deals of the summer when they agreed a £2million deal with Plymouth Argyle to sign Cooper.
The 25-year-old has been one of the best shot-stoppers in the Football League for quite some time and his performances since joining the Blades have been exceptional.
Along with boasting the best save percentage of any Championship goalkeeper (84%), he’s also kept 13 clean sheets in 19 appearances this season.
With Jordan Pickford not getting any younger, don’t rule out Cooper from breaking into the England squad over the next few years.
Finn Azaz
Having recently won the Championship Player of the Month award for November, it’s safe to say that Azaz is currently enjoying a tremendous campaign with Middlesbrough.
The creative midfielder has been thriving in Michael Carrick’s system, having already produced 14 goal contributions this season.
He’s also created the most chances of any player in the league this season (50) and looks like a Premier League player in the making.
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Giorgi Chakvetadze
While his stats on the face surface don’t seem extraordinary, Chakvetadze is absolutely one of the best players in the Championship right now.
Despite only having four assists to his name, the Watford playmaker has produced more shot-creating actions than anyone else in the league (105) and he’s created the second most amount of chances (45), only behind Middlesbrough’s Azaz.
He’s also been the second-most prolific dribbler in the Championship, having completed 41 successful dribbles up until this point.
Considering he’s also got plenty of international experience with Georgia, it seems like only a matter of time before a Premier League club comes calling.
Jobe Bellingham
While some people tend to over or underrate Bellingham because of his brother, make no mistake about it, he’s been one of the best midfielders in the Championship this season.
The 19-year-old has already chipped in with six-goal contributions, including a winner in Sunderland’s dramatic 3-2 comeback against Swansea over the weekend.
Along with Rigg, Bellingham has created the most chances in the Sunderland squad this season (28) and he’s now attracting interest from clubs around the globe.
Another season of development in the Championship will do him a world of good, but it seems inevitable that he’ll eventually get a big-money move elsewhere.