Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Championship clubs have forked out multiple large sums for new recruits during this summer transfer window, but whose summer spending was the highest?
Newcomers Wrexham dropped £7.5million on Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich Town, while other promoted side Birmingham City, who still had gaps to fill in their squad on deadline day, brought in big name players including former Blues starlet Demarai Gray.
Recently relegated Southampton earned £38million for Mateus Fernandes, while Ipswich took Marcelino Nunez from rivals Norwich City after a slow start in the market. Other parachute payment team Leicester City haven’t spent after having been deemed to have fallen foul of profit and sustainability rules.
Second tier teams have been shelling out so much cash it’s been hard for fans to keep up with who the top spenders are. But have no fear, EFL Analysis has your back, and we’ve created a list (using Transfermarkt data) to track every Championship club’s summer spending so far…
How much each Championship club has spent this summer
Ipswich Town
The Tractor Boys have made 11 additions since their relegation from the Premier League. Azor Matusiwa has joined for £10million from Rennes, while Kieran McKenna and co. have dropped £12million on Leicester’s Kasey McAteer. They also beat Birmingham to getting loanee Chuba Akpom.
The Suffolk outfit’s biggest sale has been Omari Hutchinson to Nottingham Forest, who left for £37.5million this month, while defender Luke Woolfenden left for Coventry City for £4million.
Total spend: £51.6m
Southampton
Will Still has had to be patient with signings this summer. The Saints had brought in Damian Downs for £7million, as well as Joshua Quarshie for £3.5million, while Mads Roerslev signed for an undisclosed fee from Brentford.
Tyler Dibling was of course sold to Everton for £35million, one of the sales that gave Still plenty to play with in the transfer window. Fernandes going to West Ham meant the Saints would have been way under in terms of net spend. However, late signings Azaz, Caspar Jander, Tom Fellows and Leo Scienza have bumped their spending up.
Total spend: £48.7m
Wrexham
Phil Parkinson’s side have brought in 13 new signings this summer, including buying Conor Coady from Leicester, spending £2million on Sheffield United’s Kieffer Moore and splashing £7.5million on Manchester City’s Callum Doyle. On deadline day, they brought in Ben Sheaf from Coventry, Blackburn’s Dom Hyam and Man City loanee Issa Kabore.
Wrexham have sold players for undisclosed fees, sending Jack Marriott and Luke McNicholas to Reading and Forest Green respectively. Nine have been let go at the end of their contracts or on a free, while five have gone on loan, including Paul Mullin to Wigan Athletic.
Total spend: £32.7m
Middlesbrough
Rob Edwards brought Matt Targett in on loan from Newcastle and £5.9million has been spent on defender Adilson Malanda, while attacker Kaly Sene also joined Middlesbrough.
Southampton had a £15million offer accepted for Finn Azaz, which may have stopped the sale of Boro fan favourite Hayden Hackney.
Total spend: £26.2m
Norwich City
The Canaries have brought in ex-Premier League free agents Jeffrey Schlupp and Louie Moulden from Crystal Palace, while shelling out £6.9million for Mathias Kvistgaarden from Brondby. Eight new players have had fees spent on them.
Norwich held on to Josh Sargent this summer for a large fee, and they made £14million from Jonathan Rowe’s sale to Marseille.
Total spend: £25.1m
Sheffield United
Japhet Tanganga joined the Blades for a reported £7million, with Danny Ings also signing for free last week. Free agent Ben Mee joined them on deadline day. Five other fees have been spent on new additions for Ruben Selles.
In terms of outgoings, United have made plenty of money, namely selling Vini Souza to Wolfsburg for £12.8 million. A lot of the South Yorkshire club’s incoming have been undisclosed fees, so this figure may be bigger.
Total spend: £19.6m
West Bromwich Albion
Chris Mepham has joined West Brom from Bournemouth, but the Baggies have already done plenty of business. Four six-figure fees have been spent on new signings, including Nat Phillips from Liverpool for around £3million.
Meanwhile, Torbjorn Heggem’s move from The Hawthorns to Bologna cost approximately £6.9million.
Total spend: £13m
Birmingham City
Bringing Gray back to St Andrew’s didn’t cost Chris Davies and co a penny in transfer fees (though his wage is thought to be high), while Kanya Fujimoto, Phil Neumann and Bright Osayi-Samuel were also all free. They have spent money on ex-Celtic man Kyogo Furuhasi, as well as Marvin Ducksch.
£1.2million was earned for the sale of Alfie May to Huddersfield Town, while Romelle Donovan went to Brentford for a reported £3million. Jack Robinson arrived on deadline day for just below a reported £175,000. After pocketing £10.2m in transfer fees, Blues have a net spend of £2.2m.
Total spend: £12.4m
Swansea City
The Swans dropped £5.18million on winger Zeidane Inoussa from BK Hacken. Ethan Galbraith has been the second most expensive signing this summer, joining from Orient for £1.5million.
Harry Darling left for free for Norwich, while Mykola Kukharevych’s departure earned the club £691,000. Adam Idah joined for £6million from Celtic, almost doubling the Swans’ spending this summer.
Total spend: £12m
Charlton Athletic
The 2025 League One play-off winners have shed more money than their rivals expected this summer. £3.5 million was spent on Kelman, with the potential to rise to £5 million with add-ons. Fees were also spent on Harvey Knibbs, Isaac Tanto Olaofe and Rob Apter among others.
The Addicks lost Thierry Small on a free transfer to Preston and are yet to sell anyone this summer. James Bree joined from Southampton on deadline day.
Total spend: £10m
Derby County
Derby spent undisclosed fees on Travis and Carlton Morris, but there has been a fee of £500,000 suggested for the latter’s move from Luton Town. Patrick Agyemang signed for approximately £5.8million, while Max Johnston became John Eustace’s 12th signing this week in a deal worth up to £3.5million.
The Rams hadn’t made any money off player sales yet after letting a number go for free following the end of their contracts, but Kane Wilson’s bizarre move to MK Dons for an undisclosed fee will have boosted their bank balance.
Total spend: £8.7m
Queens Park Rangers
The R’s beat rivals to sign Wycombe Wanderers striker Richard Kone this summer for £5million, while fees were splashed on Koki Saito and Karamoko Dembele among others.
Charlie Kelman was sold for an initial £3.5million to Charlton, while the West London club shifted other players out on free transfers and loan moves.
Total spend: £8.6m
Blackburn Rovers
Five former John Eustace Blackburn Rovers players are now at Derby County with their ex-manager, with Rovers captain Lewis Travis the latest to move.
Valerien Ismael has replaced them with new faces, including spending just under £2million for Ryoya Morishita. Seven fees have been spent on recruits.
Total spend: £8.5m
Millwall
The Lions snapped up Josh Coburn from Boro for £5million, while fees were also spent on Alfie Doughty and Zak Sturge. The money spent on the latter pair’s fees are unknown as both payments were undisclosed.
The Londoners’ only sale this summer was that of Zian Flemming, who left for Burnley for over £7million after the Clarets signed him on a loan-to-buy deal last summer.
Total spend: £8.5m
Coventry City
Frank Lampard has spent £3.5million on Kaine Kesler-Hayden this summer, bringing the defender from Aston Villa. Luis Binks was sold for £2.5million to Brondby IF, while others left on free transfers.
Sheffield United had been interested in Bobby Thomas, but he has stayed at the club. Former Chelsea boss Lampard recently admitted Coventry need to deepen their squad, but only Woolfenden arrived.
Total spend: £7.5m
Stoke City
High-flyers Stoke have brought in Lamine Cisse and Maksym Taloverov for fees, while Sorba Thomas signed for an undisclosed price and True Grant has been a smart addition.
Wouter Burger was sold for £3.5million to TSG Hoffenheim, while Aaron Cresswell joined on a free transfer from West Ham. Tomas Rigo joined for an estimated £3million.
Total spend: £7.4m
Watford
The Hornets have had a busy window following Tom Cleverley’s exit, recruiting Nestory Irankunda from Bayern Munich on a five-year deal for £2.6million. Vivaldo Semedo joined Watford from Udinese on an undisclosed fee.
Meanwhile, Othmane Maamma cost the club £1.12million. The other additions have been free transfers and loanees.
Total spend: £5.4m
Oxford United
A reported £2.8million was spent on new Oxford signing Brodie Spencer this summer, while Brian De Keersmaecker was reportedly acquired for more than £1.6 million. Their other signings have been loans.
Idris El Mizouni was sold to Leyton Orient for an undisclosed fee, with Ruben Rodrigues’ move to Brazilian club EC Vitoria also for an undisclosed fee.
Total spend: £4.4m
Portsmouth
After avoiding relegation last season in their first season back in the Championship, Pompey signed Josh Knight signed for £870,000, while Mark Kosznovszky is reported to have cost £1.3million.
Luke le Roux’s transfer from IFK Värnamo is set to be worth £1million, while Adrian Segecic joined for a free, but Pompey had to pay an undisclosed training fee to Sydney FC. Paddy Lane is reported to have left for £250,000, while the other departures were undisclosed or free transfers. Academy product Conor Chaplin joining on loan from Ipswich stole headlines on deadline day.
Total spend: £3.6m
- READ MORE: Andre Onana must listen to Grimsby Town hero as Man Utd goalkeeper given ‘confidence’ crisis advice
Hull City
The Tigers have paid fees for three of their summer signings – Gustavo Puerta, Darko Gyabi and Reda Laalaoui. Only Puerta’s wasn’t undisclosed, costing a reported £217,000.
Sergej Jakirovic has waved goodbye to seven players this window, including Steven Alzate who left for Atlanta for £1.46million. The Hull boss recently gave an honest assessment of Abu Kamara’s situation. Coventry City were also keen on Charlie Hughes, but he is still at the club.
Total spend: £3.2m
Bristol City
The Robins have brought in Emil Riis and Joe Lumley on free transfers from Preston North End and Plymouth respectively, while £750,000 was reportedly spent on Adam Randell and £900,000 was put on former loanee Yu Hirakawa.
Bristol City boss Gerhard Struber recently said he’d never let go of Ross McCrorie. He has sold Taylor Gardner-Hickman to Birmingham for £1.5million, who has gone on loan to Blackburn, while Marcus McGuane was sold for an undisclosed fee. The Robins are likely to be in the green so far this summer.
Total spend: £1.65m
Preston North End
Preston signed Thierry Small on a free transfer at the beginning of the window. £1.38million was spent on right back Odeluga Offiah from Brighton, while Jack Walton’s fee from Luton was undisclosed.
£1.12million is reported to have been made on Jack Whatmough’s transfer to Huddersfield, while ex-Liverpool man Layton Stewart went to FC Thun permanently for £319,700.
Total spend: £1.38m
Leicester City
EFL Analysis’ Chief finance expert Adam Williams confirmed that Leicester are under no form of transfer embargo or business plan as it stands, but the Championship club may be in talks with the EFL ahead of submitting their financial accounts at an earlier period.
Joao Rego had been admired by the Foxes, but it was Aaron Ramsey that joined on deadline day on a season-long loan to replace Bilal El Khannouss along with two others. The Foxes have sold £52million worth of players, though, meaning they aren’t rock bottom of this list.
Total spend: £0
Sheffield Wednesday
It’s not hard to guess where the Owls sit on this list. The Championship’s chaos club has been unable to spend any fees until January 2027 thanks to owner Dejphon Chansiri failing to meet player wage payment deadlines multiple times between 2024 and 2025.
They have brought in emergency loan Ethan Horvath, but have lost a whole host of players for nothing, including Michael Smith and Josh Windass. Djeidi Gassama’s move to Rangers from Sheffield Wednesday gave the club £2.2 million. The Owls were allowed to sign Harry Amass from Manchester United on loan on deadline day.
Total spend: £0