Seven players we’re excited to watch in the Championship this season
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.
Jarrod Bowen: West Ham
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.
Zan Vipotnik: Swansea City
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.
Ethan Galbraith: Stoke City
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.
Lorent Tolaj: Bristol City
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.
Léo Scienza: Southampton
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.
He topped the club rankings for expected assists per 90 minutes (0.28), and only Ryan Manning (2.2) averaged more chances created per 90 minutes (2.1) in the Championship for Saints.
One of the most exciting players in the division when running with the ball at his feet, Scienza was involved in 11 Championship goals after a ball carry last season – three more than any other player. Only Abdul Fatawu (78) had more of his ball carries lead to either a shot or chance created than Scienza (75).
Othmane Maamma: Watford
Watford fans are very excited to see Maamma again this season. The worry is that, with plenty of clubs across Europe interested in him, he might not be around for long. Watford signed Maamma last summer and he quickly made a name for himself at the Under-20 World Cup, winning the tournament with Morocco and picking up the player of the tournament award.
Maamma made his Watford debut in November, going on to score four goals and set up one more in the Championship. He created 30 open-play chances, the fourth most at the club from his first appearance onwards. The 20-year-old led the Championship rankings for take-ons per 90 minutes (8.9), successful take-ons per 90 (2.9) and take-ons in the opposition’s half per 90 (6.5) last season when considering all players to play at least 800 minutes.
Watford have a great track record of elevating young players and moving them on for big transfer fees – Maamma will surely be the next.
Mason Melia: Lincoln City
Eighteen-year-old Mason Melia is one to keep a close eye on this season. Lincoln fought off a handful of clubs to bring him in on loan from Tottenham for the season. Despite his youth and inexperience, he is an exciting prospect.
Before moving to Spurs, Melia made a name for himself in the League of Ireland with St Patrick’s Athletic, where he scored 21 goals at an average of one every 202 minutes – the first of those goals came against UCD in June 2023 when he was just 15 years and 281 days old.
Melia made his Premier League 2 debut for Spurs in April and made a fast impact, scoring three goals in six appearances in the competition, including his first just three minutes after coming off the bench in a 3-2 win over West Ham. It might be a few months until Melia is trusted with a place in Lincoln’s starting XI, but he has a bright future.
This is an article by Opta Analyst
Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.
