Five Championship standouts Sunderland should target in the summer window | OneFootball

With January closing, attention turns to the summer window. Sunderland added 15 players after promotion and look comfortable back in the Premier League, but 2026/27 will demand more depth. The Championship could offer value.

Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney is rated the Championship’s most valuable by Transfermarkt at €25m (£21.7m). He has nine goals and eight assists across the last two seasons. This term he leads his team for completed passes, 1,518, chances created, 54, and tackles, 50.

Southampton centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis celebrated promotion in 2024, suffered relegation in 2025, and is back in the Championship this season. He has four goals and two assists. He also tops the Saints for clearances, 193, aerial duels won, 91, and possessions won in the middle third, 50.

Leicester winger Abdul Fatawu missed long spells of 2024/25, which contributed to a miserable campaign, but he has been lethal at this level either side. He owns 12 goals and 20 assists in 69 Championship appearances. This season he has 74 completed take-ons, at least 40 more than any team-mate, and is second at Leicester for chances created on 35.

Swansea striker Zan Vipotnik arrived in 2024 after Bordeaux’s financial collapse led to a mutual termination. He struggled in his first year, scoring seven in 42 as Swansea finished 11th. Now he has 13 in 27 league games, only four players have more, plus two in the EFL Cup, one against Nottingham Forest.

Sheffield United left-back Harrison Burrows fits Sunderland’s forward planning at the position. Reinildo has been reliable and Dennis Cirkin offers depth, but Cirkin may not stay long and Reinildo has turned 32. Burrows, 24, has seven goals and eight assists across the last two seasons, after 12 goals and 17 assists for Peterborough in 2023/24.

Source: Sunderland Echo