Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
The 2025/26 summer transfer window is officially over, and for clubs in the Championship, it was a record-breaking one.
According to Sky Sports, over £201.2m was spent over the course of the last few months by sides in the second tier, while £411m was brought back into the division as top flight clubs from across Europe brought in some of the league’s star players.
Squads are firmly locked in place now, and while some deals did not quite get over the line, for others it’s a chance at a fresh start elsewhere.
Now, EFL Analysis has taken a look at the three winners and three losers from this summer’s transfer window.
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Three winners in the 2025/26 summer transfer window
Derby County
We start off with one of the most active clubs this summer in the form of Derby County, who made 13 signings over the course of the last few months after avoiding relegation on the final day of last season.
Carlton Morris was the first arrival, before the likes of Patrick Agyemang, Max Johnston and Lewis Travis all followed on multi-million pound deals. Meanwhile, loan signings Bobby Clark, Dion Sanderson, David Ozoh, Ben Brereton Diaz and Owen Beck will be looking to prove themselves in black and white.
However, some of the free signings that have come to Derby are particularly exciting, most notably Rhian Brewster. With the likes of Jake Rooney and Ben Osborn sent out on loan to League One, John Eustace has cut his squad numbers down and it’s been a highly successful transfer window for the Rams.
Middlesbrough
For some, this summer has been about bringing in as many players as possible, while for others it has been all about making small adjustments and ensuring key players stay at the club.
Middlesbrough are just one of those, and while they have made eight permanent signings, keeping hold of Hayden Hackney is by far their best business for quite some time.
Boro had a firm stance on Hackney’s future, and although Finn Azaz did depart, there is no doubt that the Teessiders have kept their best player at the club, while the arrivals of David Strelec and Alan Browne are extremely exciting for those at the Riverside Stadium.
Bilal El Khannouss
Bilal El Khannouss has been one of the stories of the summer, with the Leicester City star looking incredibly likely to depart at any given moment over the course of the transfer window.
It took some time to happen, but eventually, the 21-year-old did get his move away from the Championship, with Stuttgart arranging a loan deal with the Foxes for the attacking midfielder.
He will now play his football in the Bundesliga for the 2025/26 season, with the German club holding an option to buy in the deal.
Three losers in the 2025/26 summer transfer window
Sheffield Wednesday
It will perhaps come as no surprise to see Sheffield Wednesday make their way into this part of the list, with the Owls having a really difficult summer transfer window due to their off-field problems.
The South Yorkshire outfit are working under a three-window transfer fee ban, and the EFL had to ratify every deal completed by the club. This meant that Jaden Heskey’s move to Hillsborough was called off, while Harry Amass was the only outfield signing this summer.
Ethan Horvath joined on an emergency loan a couple of weeks ago, but the departures of Josh Windass and Djeidi Gassama have been tough to take for Sheffield Wednesday, whose squad looks extremely weak.
Josh Sargent
Josh Sargent was targeted by Burnley and Wolfsburg earlier this summer, and the striker’s departure from Norwich City seemed almost inevitable.
However, he remains at Carrow Road until January at least, and while he is happy to be at the Canaries, with it being a World Cup year, and a home World Cup at that for the American, he must have some fears about his chances of starting for the USA next summer.
This transfer window was the opportunity for Sargent to get a move to a top flight division, yet, he remains in the Championship. With Timothy Weah playing for Juventus and Folarin Balogun at AS Monaco, Mauricio Pochettino may overlook the Norwich star.
Gustavo Hamer
Sheffield United themselves have had a relatively strong summer, despite losing Anel Ahmedhodzic to Feyenoord and Vinicius Souza for nearly £13m earlier in the window.
However, for Gustavo Hamer, it was another deadline day where he may have thought, what if? The Blades made it clear that Hamer was not for sale ahead of the transfer window shutting, and he will now have to find a way to help the team recover from their awful start to the campaign.
Sheffield United are bottom of the Championship, and despite interest from PSV Eindhoven, the 28-year-old will now be expected to take on a leading role in trying to turn this season around with promotion still on the minds of those at the top at Bramall Lane.