Leeds and Southampton dominate as the Championship’s 15 €20m stars revealed

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 5 Aug 2023 10:33 BST
• 3 min read

Southampton kicked off the EFL Championship style in season as they went to Sheffield Wednesday and produced a 2-1 victory.

Adam Armstrong and Che Adams got Russell Martin's men off the mark in the opening game of the season, in which they produced a dominant performance befitting their Premier League status last season.

And that should come as little surprise given the St Mary's side, as well as Leeds United and Leicester monopolise an elite group of 15 Championship players worth more than €20m.

Many, though, will leave before the end of the transfer window, at which point the league could have a very different complexion.

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One of those tipped to leave is Leeds’ Tyler Adams, who has been linked with a potential move to Chelsea. With an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €37.8 million, he is the most valuable player in the Championship as the season gears up to begin. He is also the player in the league who is given the highest skill score by data analytics experts SciSports.

Adams’ Leeds teammate Jack Harrison is the second most valuable talent in the league at €34.6m while Wilfried Gnonto, linked with Everton, is worth €27.6m.

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Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) explained

Our Player Valuation Model calculates an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) for more than 240.000 players in the world.

Read more here.

Our Player Valuation Model calculates an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) for more than 240.000 players in the world. It uses information on the player's skill, potential, performance, contract duration, position and other statistics to estimate an accurate ETV.

Read more here.

Leeds have six players who are worth €20m or more, with Illan Meslier, Georginio Rutter and Pascal Struijk also falling into this bracket.

Southampton, meanwhile, have James Ward-Prowse as their most valuable player at €34.4m, with Gavin Bazunu also in the top 10. The highly rated Romeo Lavia, who is being closely linked with many big Premier League clubs, squeezes in at €20.3m, with the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea tempted by his potential.

Leicester have five players rated at €20m or more, but only Timothy Castagne and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the leading nine players.

Norwich’s Max Aarons is the highest-rated player at a club in the league last season, with the full-back rated at €15.8m. Bristol’s Alex Scott (€15.4m) and Josh Sargent (€14.4m) complete this particular top three.

The EFL Championships' most valuable players

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