The top 15 best EFL Championship signings this season | OneFootball

FLW looks at the players who have made the biggest impact at their new club this season

As we head into the run-in, many critics and clubs will be beginning to think about the end-of-season awards.

Who will enter the history books as the 2025/26 Player of the Season? Who will be in the Team of the Season? All will be discussed and answered in the next month or so, and, while not an actual credited award, fans will no doubt be thinking about who the best signing of the season was.

The player who has come in and made an immediate impact for their club with goals and assists, or defensive contributions and clean sheets, is a hot topic for debate, and whittling this down to a 15-person list was almost as difficult as the ordering itself!

Nevertheless, here are the 15 best signings in the Championship this season.

15 ? ? Rumarn Burrell - QPR

Kicking off this list is Rumarn Burrell, whose rapid improvement up the leagues from the Scottish third tier, to League One in England with Burton Albion last season and now with QPR has been a joy to watch.

The Hoops spent just over £1 million to bring him in from the Brewers in the summer, and he was initially touted to be a speedy impact substitute, but the 25-year-old wrestled his way into starting contention, as he is arguably now the best frontman on the books at Loftus Road.

There's no coincidence that QPR's patchy run of form from mid-January to now, which has all but condemned Julian Stephan's side to a mid-table finish, came alongside Burrell's time on the sidelines, and Rs fans can't wait to see him return, which should come in the coming weeks

Hopefully, he can add to his 10 goals in the final few games of this term and look to better that next season.

14 ? ? Patrick Bamford - Sheffield United

Patrick Bamford's mini-career resurgence under the watchful eye of Chris Wilder at Sheffield United was definitely not on anyone's bingo cards in August, but the 32-year-old is currently enjoying his best league-scoring season since that 17-goal Premier League campaign in 2020/21 in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

When Bamford was released from his Leeds contract after seven years at Elland Road, everyone was questioning where the two-time Championship champion would go, and if he'd be able to rediscover some form after a scoreless 2024/25 campaign.

His arrival at Bramall Lane in November was a strange one. Just six months earlier, he was filmed leading a chant directed at Chris Wilder in the wake of Leeds' title win, and now he was playing under the Blades boss.

But goals are always a good way to strengthen a relationship, and Bamford is in double digits in all competitions heading into this run-in, and for a free agent, he's been one of the better bits of business this season.

13 ? ? Matt Targett - Middlesbrough

Speaking of career resurgences, Matt Targett had made just five Premier League appearances in the two seasons preceding his loan move to Middlesbrough this past summer.

He's been ever-present in the Boro squad since his season-long switch, and if he carries his performance levels into the run-in, he'll be helping Kim Hellberg's side celebrate a top-flight promotion.

The 30-year-old has been reliable across the backline, even deputising at centre-back during the club's defensive injury crisis towards the end of 2025, but he didn't look out of place then, and he's been a key man in the side with the best defence in the Championship this season.

Strong at the back and capable of creating chances going forward, Middlesbrough will almost certainly be hoping he sticks around permanently at the end of this season.

12 ? ? Jordan James - Leicester City

Jordan James' return to England has had many ups and downs. His Leicester City side is staring down the barrel of a potential second successive relegation, but it's hard to say that the Rennes loanee has had much to do with it, as, personally, it's been a good year.

The 21-year-old Welshman has 14 goal contributions in just 26 starts in the Championship this season after arriving on a year-long deal from the Ligue 1 side late on in the summer window.

Of his 10 goals, four have been from outside the box, and he's only accumulated 3.6 expected goals throughout the campaign, showing the difficulty of chances that he is, ultimately, taking.

The Foxes reportedly have an option to buy the former Birmingham City man at the end of the season. The focus right now is on ensuring that they don't fall into League One, and then, at the end of the campaign, they'll hope that they can be in with a shot of making the move permanent.

11 ? ? Kieffer Moore - Wrexham

Towering Welshman Kieffer Moore was one of Wrexham's marquee signings in the summer, arriving from Sheffield United for £2 million.

With the Red Dragons purchasing numerous Welsh internationals before the season started, many felt that the 33-year-old would end up at the newly-promoted League One side, even if he had been the starting striker from the side that was beaten in the play-off final the previous May.

At Wrexham, Moore has been exactly what many expected him to be: someone who gets stuck in, wins duels in the air and on the ground and is an overall handful for defenders who want to keep clean sheets.

He's currently in the best scoring season of his career since the 2020/21 campaign, when he was at fellow Welsh outfit Cardiff City, and he'll be hoping that it may be enough to land Wrexham a place in the play-offs.

10 ? ? Japhet Tanganga - Sheffield United

Like Moore, everyone who watches the Championship knows what Japhet Tanganga is about after his two years at Millwall, and with it being widely reported that there was a £1.2 million release clause in his contract for Premier League clubs to activate, it felt an inevitability that the former Tottenham Hotspur youngster would be making a top-flight return.

He did move away from the Den, but not to the Premier League. Instead, Sheffield United were the side to buy him, and he's, once again, been one of the better centre-backs in the division.

It's not been the greatest of years for the Blades, who are all but certainly going to remain in the Championship this season, but it's been an impressive first campaign at Bramall Lane for the 27-year-old.

9 ? ? Finn Azaz - Southampton

Again, it comes as no surprise that the man who ended last season with 12 goals and 11 assists in the Championship at Middlesbrough has been one of the better new signings this season when he made the divisional move to Southampton in the summer.

It actually looked like Finn Azaz would be a £12 million flop in the early stages of his Saints career, as he went his first nine games at St Mary's without registering a goal or an assist.

But since Tonda Eckert first came in as interim manager, the Irishman has excelled. He's recorded yet another 10-goal campaign and has been ever-present in the starting line-up during Southampton's rise into the play-offs in 2026.

The 25-year-old has been one of the best creative midfielders in the second tier for several years now, and it'll only be a matter of time before he's playing in the Premier League — perhaps for his current club.

8 ? ? Joe Gelhardt - Hull City

Joe Gelhardt was helpful at Hull City last season on a short-term loan spell from January to the end of the campaign, as he netted five times in 20 games to help the Tigers remain in the Championship by the skin of their teeth.

With restrictions on buying players this summer, Hull jumped at the opportunity to bring the 23-year-old back to the club on loan for the whole season this time round, and he's more than impressed.

He netted eight in 10 games in the lead-up to a frustrating calf injury, which saw him out of action for a little over a month, and while his scoring runs haven't resumed to that extent, he's still chipped in with a few to help Sergej Jakirovic's side maintain this play-off push.

Linking up well with someone else who is yet to come on this list, the Tigers have been one of the more dangerous attacking sides in the Championship this season, and those at the MKM Stadium will be hoping that the loans can stop this coming summer, and they can bring Gelhardt in permanently.

7 ? ? Azor Matusiwa - Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town made transfer headlines this past summer, not only with their Championship record-breaking arrival of Sindre Walle Egeli, but also with Azor Matusiwa, who was a regular starter for Rennes in Ligue 1 the year before.

The Tractor Boys spent a reported £7.8 million to bring him to Portman Road, and he's been worth every penny of it so far.

He helps maintain the control that Kieran McKenna's side has in games, breaking attacks down and being so comfortable on the ball. He doesn't create many opportunities, nor score many goals (albeit his one against Hull was rather special), but that's not his game.

Per Fotmob, he's in the top five per cent of defensive midfielders in the Championship in almost all the defensive stats, along with duels won both on the ground and in the air.

He's started every game possible for an Ipswich side that thrives on their strength in depth, and he'll be someone expected to make the Premier League transition look seamless as and when he gets there.

6 ? ? Patrick Agyemang - Derby County

Patrick Agyemang has been a real find for Derby County this year, who took a chance on him after just three years as a pro in America by signing him in a move which could cost up to £7.3 million.

The fact that the Rams can reportedly almost triple that sum in a potential Premier League sale this coming summer shows how impressive the 25-year-old has been in his debut campaign in England.

Agyemang is not only a serviceable goalscorer, having netted 10 already this season, but he's great at getting involved elsewhere and getting teammates involved, winning aerial duels, and he's good at driving forward with the ball at his feet, too.

He's taken to the Championship like a duck to water, and is arguably one of the more well-rounded frontmen in the division currently. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him on the move once more this coming summer.