For many fans and pundits, the Championship is the best and most entertaining league in all of Europe, and it consistently houses a number of excellent players who go on to the Premier League.
The likes of England stars Harry Kane and Jordan Pickford cut their teeth and made their name in the EFL on loan, while other former internationals like Jamie Vardy and Dele Alli had well-documented rises through to top-flight football.
The Championship has been an intense and often drama-filled league since the inaugural 2004/05 season. There have been plenty of outstanding teams and players in the division over the years, and there could be more who yet go on to play for England from the EFL.
More still will make the Premier League in the coming years, with some of the exports from the second tier lighting up Europe in the case of Coventry City‘s former striker Viktor Gyokeres. He is the latest example to shine after a move up the ladder, but there are more still lurking in the division.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Here, we take a look at five of the best players in the Championship right now that we think could make the step up next season. The rules are as follows: No loanees, one player per club, and no players from inside the top eight that are currently fighting for the Championship play-offs.
Borja Sainz
It could be to the Premier League or to La Liga but there is no way Borja Sainz is playing second tier football in 2026. The Spaniard is a wide forward but sits top of the pile in terms of the Championship Golden Boot race — and that will not have gone unnoticed. His speed and trickery are also a weapon in their own right, let alone his sharp eye for goal in a Norwich City shirt.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Giorgi Chakvetadze
Giorgi Chakvetadze is arguably the most fun player to watch in the Championship. His technical level and ball-carrying offer Watford an outlet and he is often the main man for them in big moments. His goal and assist numbers may not pop, but he assured that he is every bit a Premier League level player and he should find his way there this summer, with or without the Hornets.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Alfie Doughty
The first and only name on this list to have previously performed in the Premier League, Alfie Doughty will not be playing second tier football much longer (and no, we don’t mean because Luton are getting relegated).
He has been one of the only shining lights this season for Luton Town. Only five players have created more chances than him in the Championship, including Chakvetadze. Doughty’s set-piece threat and two-footed nature will ensure he is a target in the summer.
Viktor Johansson
Where would Stoke City be without Viktor Johansson? In the relegation zone, that’s for sure. It’s been claimed he is one of the three best goalkeepers in the league alongside James Trafford and Michael Cooper.
At age 26, surely someone in the Premier League will offer a pretty penny or two for this monster stopper between the sticks. We could even see a few of the top sides eyeing him as a capable number two.
Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images
Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images
Callum Brittain
Perhaps a slightly rogue shout, but Callum Brittain is one of the Championship’s most underrated full-backs. His energy and all-round game may make him a sensible pick up for some Premier League sides, and we think he has earned a shot at the big time thanks to his consistency with Blackburn Rovers for some time now.
Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images
Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images
Financial change required to stop Premier League gap widening over the Championship
Clubs are desperate to gain promotion, given the financial reward at stake, as well as the ability to keep hold of your best players and build the side around them with other similar calibre players.
For example, Norwich had to rebuild in the summer after losing in the play-offs, meaning Gabriel Sara and Jon Rowe were among a raft of departures, with both Sainz and Josh Sargent likely to be on the move again.
It only widens the gap between the first and second tier of English football, which is why so many are desperate to see further changes made to the way the money is distributed.
What we can be sure of is that the Championship will never be short of star quality and exciting talent, as it has proven to be a breeding ground for some of England and Europe’s best players in 2025.
It’s such a good league, in fact, that QPR and Sunderland both have wonderkids among their ranks, and we’re sure to see plenty more brilliant players turning out in the second tier next season.