The 10 most expensive signings in Championship history and where they are now

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The Championship has a very unique position in English football.

It sits just below the Premier League, meaning just one good season could completely transform a club’s finances with promotion to the top flight.

That proximity to huge wealth has led many clubs to gamble over the years, spending big in the hopes of securing Premier League action.

However, as is the nature with gambling, you can end up in serious trouble if it doesn’t pay off.

Whether that means being stuck with an expensive wage bill from big signings that flopped, limiting further transfer activity, or facing sanctions from the league over out-of-control spending, clubs have to walk a fine line in their pursuit of promotion.

Naturally, as the Premier League’s value and status exploded in recent decades, more and more money is being spent in English football and the Championship has played its part in that.

Parachute payments have also had an effect, most recently with Southampton getting a £100m cash injection for the next Championship season.

These are the top 10 signings in Championship history and how they ended up unfolding.

10) Joel Piroe, Leeds (signed from Swansea City for £10.5m)

Joel Piroe was already a proven goalscorer in the Championship when Leeds United paid £10.5m for him at the start of the 2023/24 season.

Leeds had just been relegated from the Premier League and were chasing a swift return, so came calling for the Swansea City striker who’d scored 41 goals in 88 games in the Championship.

However, despite scoring 13 goals in his first season, he had a mixed campaign which ended in The Whites missing out on promotion after losing the play-off final to Southampton.

He was even linked to a switch to Sheffield United, in what would have been an early exit for the Dutchman.

But Leeds kept their man and it’s paid off well for them, with Piroe currently leading the Championship in goal involvements with 21 in total.

The 25-year-old’s 15 goals and 6 assists have helped fire the club to the top of the league, with the Yorkshire team looking destined for promotion back into the Premier League at the second time of asking.

Swansea City will be one team hoping The Whites can get back into the top flight, as Piroe’s transfer could rise to £16m – with £2m of the added fees resting on promotion being achieved.

If it rises to the full £16m, that would earn him the record of most expensive Championship signing of all time.

With how much Leeds want to pay for Manor Solomon to sign on a permanent basis, this could lead to a tricky situation in terms of PSR.

9) Jonathan Kodjia, Aston Villa (signed from Bristol City for £11m)

Jonathan Kodjia joined Aston Villa in the club’s first Championship season after a 29-year stay in the Premier League ended in relegation.

He joined from Bristol City for £11m after scoring an impressive 18 goals in his first season in the Championship.

Kodjia picked up where he left off, scoring 19 goals in 40 games for the Villans and winning the Championship Player of the Month for November.

However, Villa didn’t get anywhere near the promotion they were aiming for, finishing the season in 13th place.

Injury hampered his second season at the club as they again missed out on promotion, this time losing the 2018 play-off final to Fulham.

The striker’s third season for Villa saw a return to form and fitness, with the Ivory Coast international bagging 9 goals in 39 games as the Midlands outfit finally secured promotion back into the Premier League by beating Derby County 2-1 in the play-off final.

That proved to be Kodjia’s last meaningful contribution for Aston Villa, as he left the club in the January 2020 transfer window for Qatari team Al-Gharafa.

He was sold for a fee in the region of £2m, with the striker’s contract set to run out that summer.

The 35-year-old is still playing football, turning out in the French third division for FC Versailles. He’s scored 3 goals in 15 games for the club since joining in August 2024 on a free transfer.

8) Benik Afobe, Stoke (signed from Wolves for £12m)

Benik Afobe signed for Stoke City in June 2018 on a six-month loan with an obligation to buy for £12m.

He’d only just been bought by Wolves for £10m after a successful loan spell helped secure the club’s promotion into the Premier League.

However, they decided to turn a quick £2m profit by selling him on to Stoke, who had just dropped out of the top flight into the Championship after 10 years in the Prem.

Unfortunately, the signing didn’t go to plan as Afobe only scored 8 goals in 45 games as The Potters slumped to 16th place.

The former Arsenal youngster then moved on loan to fellow Championship club Bristol City for the 2019/20 season, starting well with three goals in five games before an ACL injury put him out of action for months.

Two more loans followed, first to Turkey’s Trabzonspor in 2020/21 and then Millwall in 2021/22. After scoring 12 goals in 38 Championship games for The Lions and nearly guiding them to the play-offs, he joined the London club at the end of the season for an undisclosed fee.

Afobe, 32, last played in the Qatari Second Division for Al-Mesaimeer but has been without a club since January 2025.

7) Harry Wilson, Fulham (signed from Liverpool for £12m)

Harry Wilson joined Fulham from Liverpool for £12m in July 2021 after a series of loan moves at different clubs.

Off the back of a very successful loan at Cardiff City the season before, where he registered 19 goal involvements in 31 games for The Bluebirds, he signed for a Fulham team looking to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

He promptly delivered, scoring 10 goals and registering an astonishing 20 assists as The Cottagers romped to the Championship title.

Wilson hasn’t quite been able to replicate those numbers in the Premier League, but he’s been a solid player for Fulham, making 114 appearances in the top flight along with 28 goal involvements.

The Welshman, 28, is still at the London club, with his contract set to run out in June 2026.

6) Ross McCormack, Aston Villa (signed from Fulham for £12m)

Ross McCormack joined Aston Villa from Fulham for £12m in their first season back in the Championship in 2016.

Along with Jonathan Kodjia, McCormack was signed to help fire the Villans back into the Premier League. He’d just had two hugely impressive seasons for Fulham, racking up 38 goals and 19 assists in 89 games.

However, it ended up being an expensive mistake for Villa. The Scotsman only scored three goals in 20 games for the club, before being dropped from the first-team squad by manager Steve Bruce for ‘continually missing training’.

The striker subsequently left the club in the January transfer window via a loan to Nottingham Forest where he didn’t exactly pull up trees either, scoring one goal in seven games.

He was then shipped out to the Australian A-League for the following two seasons, where his only notable contribution was assisting Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt’s first goal in an official football match as they both played for Central Coast Mariners FC.

One brief loan to Motherwell later, McCormack was released by Aston Villa at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Ross McCormack retired from football in 2024 shortly after signing for English 11th tier side Doncaster City alongside Charlie Mulgrew and Wes Hoolahan in a publicity stunt.

The 38-year-old is now pursuing a career in radio and media.

5) Helder Costa, Wolves (signed from Benfica for £13m)

Helder Costa joined Wolves in January 2017 from Benfica for £13m after a successful start to his loan spell in 2016/17. The fee instantly made him the team’s record transfer spend at the time.

Becoming an early part of the Midlands club’s notable Portuguese contingent, he won a hattrick of club awards, being awarded 2016/17 Wolves Player of the Season, Players’ Player of the Year and Goal of the Season.

He followed his 2016/17 haul of 10 goals and eight assists in 35 games with another five goals and six assists in 36 games in 2017/18.

Those goal involvements helped fire Wolves to the 2017/18 Championship title, before making 25 Premier League appearances to help Wolves finish 7th the following season.

This meant the club secured Europa League football after an incredible first season back in the Prem. However, Costa wasn’t able to stick around to see it.

The winger was sent on loan to Leeds United in the Championship for the 2019/20 season, where he registered four goals and five assists in 43 games as The Whites won promotion to the top flight as champions.

This led Leeds to sign Costa for £13m in July 2020 on a four-year contract.

The 31-year-old now plies his trade in the Chinese Super League for Yunnan Yukun.

4) Joao Carvalho, Nottingham Forest (signed from Benfica for £13.2m)

Joao Carvalho was signed by Nottingham Forest from Benfica in June 2018 for a then-club-record fee of £13.2m.

The attacking midfielder scored four goals and notched eight assists in 38 Championship games in his debut season, as Forest missed out on play-offs by finishing in ninth place.

That ended up being as good as it got for Carvalho, as he struggled in his second season. He contributed just one goal and one assist in 20 appearances – most of which were from the bench.

He then went on loan to Spanish second-division side UD Almeria, helping them win promotion into La Liga. However, the club neglected to make the loan permanent despite having the option.

After briefly returning to Forest for the start of the 2021/22 season, he moved to Greek team Olympiacos in January 2022 for an undisclosed fee.

The 28-year-old now plays for Estoril in the Portuguese top flight, where he’s scored five goals in 21 games so far this season.

3) Britt Assombalonga, Middlesbrough (signed from Nottingham Forest for £15m)

Britt Assombalonga signed for Middlesbrough in July 2017 for a club-record fee of £15m from Nottingham Forest.

The Congolese international had scored an impressive 29 goals across the 2014/15 and 2016/17 seasons for Forest, after missing the majority of 2015/16 with a serious knee injury.

In their first season back in the Championship after relegation from the Premier League, Boro hoped Assombalonga’s goals would help them challenge for promotion.

He didn’t disappoint, firing Middlesbrough to the play-offs with 15 goals in 44 games as they finished in 5th place. However, they were beaten in the play-off semi final by Aston Villa.

The striker did his bit again the following season, bagging 14 goals in 42 games in 2018/19. Unfortunately, Boro’s poor end to the season saw them finish 7th and miss out on play-offs by a single point.

Despite Assombalonga scoring 11 goals and chalking up two assists in 35 games, the 2019/20 season nearly ended disastrously for Middlesbrough as they narrowly avoided relegation on the final day.

In 2020/21, the striker scored just five goals in 31 games. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, Boro decided not to offer a renewal.

In April 2021 Neil Warnock confirmed Assombalonga had been allowed to leave the club early. He subsequently joined Turkish team Adana Demirspor on a three-year deal in July of that year.

The 32-year-old most recently played for Amed SK in the second tier of Turkish football, scoring three goals and assisting two in 18 games in the 2024/25 season.

However, he’s been without a club since February 2025.

2) Mike Tresor, Burnley (signed from Genk for £15.4m)

Mike Tresor joined Burnley initially on loan in the 2023/24 season, with the club back in the Premier League after winning the Championship in a hugely impressive campaign under Vincent Kompany.

Tresor was loaned in after notching an incredible 24 assists along with eight goals in the Belgian Pro League for Genk.

However, that creativity didn’t translate as well as hoped for the Clarets, with the winger only making three starts and contributing no goal involvements.

It went from bad to worse for all parties, as Tresor was signed from Genk with an obligation to buy for £15.4m.

Therefore, even though Burnley were relegated from the Premier League, they were stuck paying the fee for the Belgian.

Despite summer interest from Ajax in the 25-year-old, he stayed at Burnley after the Dutch club refused to pay the required fee.

This has led to a pretty disastrous campaign where Tresor has played just one game – a 33-minute substitute appearance in the FA Cup against Reading in January.

He did manage to get an assist in the 3-1 extra-time victory, though it proved to be a false dawn.

Scott Parker confirmed in February the winger is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an injury, meaning he’s unlikely to add to his solitary 2024/25 appearance for the Clarets.

With Burnley closing in on a possible promotion to the Premier League, Tresor’s future at the club remains extremely uncertain.

1) Ruben Neves, Wolves (signed from FC Porto for £15.8m)

Ruben Neves became a record signing for both Wolves and the Championship when he signed in 2017 at just 20 years old.

He was an immediate success, winning the division in his first season as well as the club’s Player of the Season, Player’s Player of the Season and Goal of the Season awards.

Neves also made it into the Championship Team of the Season and was nominated for both Championship Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season.

The Portuguese midfielder developed a reputation for the spectacular too, frequently scoring incredible goals.

He bagged six in 42 games in his debut Wolves season, with every single one coming from outside of the box.

Neves went on to become a staple for the club as they firmly established themselves in the Premier League, even being made club captain when Conor Coady departed in the 2022/23 season.

He made 253 appearances in total for Wolves, scoring 30 goals. He generated a record sale for the club when he joined Al-Hilal for £47m in June 2023.

The 28-year-old continues to play for Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League, who he’s racked up 76 appearances for so far. He’s held down his place in the Portuguese national team too.

Ruben Neves is still the most expensive Championship signing of all time, but you’d struggle to argue he hasn’t been worth every penny.