The 10 most skilful EFL Championship players in history named and ranked by AI | OneFootball

FLW asked AI to name the ten most skilful players in Championship history...

The 2025/26 Championship campaign will kick off in just a few weeks' time, and supporters are already pondering with a great deal of excitement and anticipation about which players could be ready to make their mark on the division.

Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton are all returning from the Premier League after sole seasons which culminated in relegation but will be plotting a swift escape back to the promised land, whereas Birmingham City - promoted from League One at the first time of asking - also have credible promotion ambitions after booking their place in the Championship alongside Charlton Athletic and fellow big-spenders Wrexham.

There's a feeling that next season could be more competitive, and therefore of a higher quality, than years gone by. No shortage of exciting box-office talent is on offer in the Championship right now, of course.

However, instead of analysing next season's potential stars, a trip down memory lane awaits as we asked ChatGPT to rank the ten most skillful players in Championship history.

Commencing ChatGPT's list is Ruben Neves, and you could say the former Wolves midfield star represents something of a surprise inclusion.

That's not because of his ability, with Neves widely regarded as one of the most talented players to have ever graced the Championship.

Signed by Wolves in a blockbuster deal from Portuguese giants FC Porto ahead of the 2017/18 campaign, Neves enjoyed a sensational season at the heart of Nuno Espiritio Santo's midfield as they lifted the title in style - but whether that justifies his inclusion here is a different matter.

ChatGPT lauded Neves "world-class" passing range and ability to score from distance, both of which many would agree with, but it's open for debate whether he really fits the bill of being one of the most "skillful" players in Championship history.

9 Said Benrahma

Ex-Brentford sensation Said Benrahma is next up, and very few could content his inclusion. Indeed, one could argue that Benrahma should feature even higher up this list instead.

Blessed with balance, skill, speed, swagger and the balletic ability to weave in and out of challenges with real ease, Benrahma tormented opposition defenders during his two-year stay in the Championship with Brentford before joining West Ham United.

From 94 appearances, the Algerian international winger returned 30 goals and a further 25 assists.

Benrahma's final ball was just as devastating as his trickery and flair out wide, and he fully deserves to be a part of this list.

One of the most outstanding exports from the Championship in recent years, England international playmaker Eberechi Eze may now be a Premier League star with Crystal Palace - but it all started at QPR in the second-tier.

Eze enjoyed a breakout 2019/20 season for the Hoops, which saw him register 14 goals and eight assists to earn his move across London to join Palace.

ChatGPT labelled Eze as a "modern dribbler with elite balance and skill", and that's a pretty fair assessment. The attacking midfielder constantly made things happen in the final third for QPR, with his creativity and array of flicks and tricks still fondly remembered to this day at Loftus Road.

Next up is a much more controversial inclusion in the form of Dwight Gayle, who has been ranked in seventh-place by ChatGPT.

Gayle, who hung up his boots this summer at the age of 35, was a first-rate Championship frontman for a number of years, scoring 23 goals apiece in consecutive second-tier campaigns with Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion between 2016 and 2019.

With 62 goals from just 145 appearances, Gayle's reputation as one of the most prolific and lethal strikers in the division's modern-day history is difficult to argue with.

However, he was more known for his sharpness and keen eye for goal than his skill and trickery, which makes his inclusion a somewhat confusing one, unless his "skill" is his finishing.

6 Joao Carvalho

Another selection which is certainly open to debate, albeit perhaps to a lesser extent, Joao Carvalho showed all the ability to become a top operator at Championship level during his two-and-a-half year stay with Nottingham Forest without ever enjoying the consistency to truly establish himself in that category.

A diminutive attacking midfielder with skill, ingenuity and a knack of opening up defences with his sleek forward passing, ex-Portugal U21 star Carvalho impressed in his first season at the City Ground after joining from Benfica by recording four goals and eight assists, but he never really built upon that return.

He went on to join Olympiacos in January 2022, with his star having long faded at Forest. Undeniably talented and skillful, a more consistent option may have deserved Carvalho's place here.

5 Tom Cairney

Starting off the top five is a true Championship midfield master.

Having joined Fulham in 2015 from Blackburn Rovers, Tom Cairney has captained Fulham to no less than three promotions to the Premier League during his time at Craven Cottage.

The Scotland international is undoubtedly one of the classiest midfielders to have ever graced the second tier, seldom seen giving the ball away, whilst still being a chance-creating machine who is capable of the spectacular - he's won numerous awards relating to his goals at this level.

Throughout his time in the Championship, Cairney evidenced a superb passing vision, paired with a silky and elegant confidence on the ball that midfielders in the division could rival.

4 Pablo Hernandez

A player who made the extraordinary look very ordinary indeed, Pablo Hernandez enjoyed an unforgettable career at Leeds United.

"El Mago" (The Magician) was his nickname, and that he was. The attacking midfielder signed for Leeds in 2016, and he would go on to terrorize second-tier defences for the next four years.

You simply couldn't give him a yard of space to operate in, and if you did, he'd put on his magic hat, effortlessly take the ball past defenders who could only kick and grab at thin air, before exquisitely smashing the ball into the net.

A master of the dead ball too, he quite simply was far too good for the Championship, and he would play a key role in helping the club finally win promotion back to the Premier League in Marcelo Bielsa's superb title-winning 2019/20 side.

3 Riyad Mahrez

There aren't many better players that have been signed by a Championship club than Riyad Mahrez, but that's exactly what Leicester City did in January 2014.

The Foxes plucked the Algerian winger from French Ligue 2 side Le Havre, and little did they know it at the time, but in doing so they'd captured a player who'd go down as one of their all-time greats, and an essential piece to their Premier League-winning puzzle of 2015/16.

Mahrez did, however, only spend half-a-season in the Championship during the 13/14 campaign before Leicester won promotion to the top flight, but that was enough for the future four-time Premier League and Champions League winner with Manchester City to earn a place on this list.

Few Championship players have provided more box office viewing and dazzling ability with the ball at their feet than Wilfried Zaha.

The former England international made his Crystal Palace debut aged just 17 back in March 2010, and it was immediately obvious that the Eagles had a very special talent on their hands.

Over the next three seasons, Zaha would cement himself as one of the most exciting young players outside the Premier League, and was named the Football League's Young Player of the Year in March 2012.

The lightning-quick winger was fearless on the ball, taking every opportunity he could to take on his defender, often resulting in that unfortunate player looking very silly indeed.

Explosive, skillful, unpredictable and utterly unmissable, Zaha remains one of the best wingers to ever step foot in the Championship.

1 Adel Taarabt

Was there ever going to be any other player than Adel Taarabt taking the crown of the most skillful player in Championship history?

The Moroccan would have QPR fans tearing their hair out in frustration one second, and the next, he'd have the entirety of Loftus Road with their hands firmly on their heads with jaws wide open in sheer disbelief at the piece of skill he'd just performed, or the goal he'd just scored.

His 19 goals and 17 assists in the 2010/11 season remains one of the most impressive individual campaigns of any second tier player.

There quite simply has not been a more skillful player in Championship history than Taarabt.