10 free agents EFL Championship clubs could sign right now | OneFootball

There are 10 free agents currently available for Championship clubs to sign

With the January transfer window still over two months away, Championship sides will have to wait until then to sign players for fees or on loan, but there remains a list of 10 players that clubs in the English second tier could sign as free agents.

The 2025/26 Championship season is in full flow, and there have been surprises at either end of the table in the early stages of the campaign.

Coventry City sit pretty at the top with 19 points from five wins and four draws, but the standout statistic concerning them is their goal difference of positive 20, having netted a staggering 27 times in nine games, an average of three per game.

Closely chasing them is Middlesbrough, who have probably been the surprise package in the upper echelons so far, with Leicester City, Preston North End, Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers rounding out the top six.

At the bottom is Sheffield United, who, having reached the play-off final last season, have already dismissed former manager Ruben Selles and replaced him with Chris Wilder, who Selles incidentally replaced in the first place.

Managers will already be making transfer plans ahead of the window. Still, in the meantime, they may be considering a move for one of the 10 free agents currently available on the market.

This list comprises a Champions League winner, a player who contributed 26 goals in one top-flight season less than five years ago, and over a combined 1,400 Premier League appearances.

Jamal Lewis

Northern Irish full-back Lewis seemed destined to become a regular Premier League player in the coming years following his breakthrough year in the Championship with Norwich City in the 2018/19 season.

He'd remain a regular starter in the Premier League for the Canaries for one season before a £15 million switch to Newcastle United in the summer of 2020.

Since then, Lewis made just 36 appearances for Newcastle, with loans to both Watford in the Championship and Brazilian side Sao Paulo not reigniting his career.

Still only 27, the full-back can almost certainly play a role for any club in the Championship, and could prove to be a savvy pickup for those who do take the punt on him.

Daniel Amartey

Ghanaian international Amartey spent seven years as a Leicester player, having joined them from Danish side FC Copenhagen in January 2016, the same season that the Foxes would miraculously win the Premier League.

The midfielder, who can also operate in defence, never really nailed down a starting berth at the King Power Stadium, being a squad player for almost his entire time at the club, making 106 appearances for Leicester before leaving at the end of the 2022/23 season when the Foxes were relegated.

He'd join Turkish outfit Besiktas following his departure, but would have his contract terminated after one year for an undisclosed reason, and has been a free agent ever since.

Craig Dawson

Craig Dawson is a name synonymous with English football, particularly in the Premier League, having made over 300 top-flight appearances over his career for the likes of West Brom, Watford, West Ham and Wolves.

The 35-year-old is now a free agent, having been released from Wolves last season, and could yet make the move down to the Championship.

His age likely means he won't be able to play the entire season, but his leadership, experience and quality mean he could yet prove to be a shrewd signing for the side that takes a gamble on him.

Kortney Hause

Having come through the youth ranks at Wycombe Wanderers, Hause moved to Wolves in 2014, where he'd spend five years as mainly a squad player, never nailing down a place in the side.

A loan switch to Aston Villa in January 2019 sparked Hause's career back into life, helping the club achieve promotion to the Premier League before signing for them permanently the following summer.

However, his Villa career would be blighted by injury, having to undergo knee surgery, which kept him out of action for a prolonged period of time, with a loan move to Watford, where he made just three appearances in the 2022/23 season, doing nothing to reignite his career.

Hause was released by Villa this summer, and now 30 years old, is without a club for the first time in his career, with injuries having a detrimental effect on his playing career.

If a Championship side is willing to gamble on his injury history, he could still prove to be a good addition to numerous second-tier sides.

Oriol Romeu

A product of the La Masia system at Barcelona, Romeu first moved to English shores in 2011 with Chelsea, but after just 22 Blues appearances in four years, including loans to both Valencia and Stuttgart, the Spaniard switched to Southampton in August 2015.

Romeu made over 250 appearances for the Saints in all competitions, and after a return to Spain with Girona and then former club Barcelona, before Girona once more, he was made a free agent this summer by Barca.

The 34-year-old has never been blessed with pace, but his intelligence and experience have often been an undervalued asset on the pitch, and many Championship clubs could do with him.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Like Hause, but in a slightly higher-profile case, Oxlade-Chamberlain has suffered from injury problems throughout his career, which is a large reason he finds himself a free agent at 32.

The 35-time capped former England international has made over 230 Premier League appearances across his career with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, the latter of which he lifted both the Premier League title and Champions League with.

His most recent spell, like Amartey, came in the Turkish capital with Besiktas, where he made 50 appearances in two years; however found his game time limited, once again due to injuries.

Birmingham City were reported to be interested in the midfielder this summer, but opted against bringing him to the club, and Oxlade-Chamberlain remains a free agent.

Nathan Redmond

Once-capped former England international Redmond is without a club after the summer transfer window for the first time in his career.

Having come through the ranks at Birmingham, Redmond joined Norwich for £3.2 million in July 2013 with the club in the Premier League, and would spend just one season outside of top-flight football since.

The winger has made over 270 appearances in the Premier League for the likes of Norwich, Southampton, and, most recently, Burnley, with a loan spell at Besiktas sandwiched between his stints with the Saints and the Clarets.

He made just two appearances for Burnley last season in the Championship, accumulating just 13 minutes of league football, and was released this summer, and still only 31, is on the lookout for another club.

A reunification with Birmingham could prove to be a sensible option for both player and club, with Redmond returning to where he began his career, and with Blues struggling for goals, he could yet add some much-needed creativity and experience.

Isaac Success

In July 2016, Watford completed the £12.5 million signing of Granada striker Success, though his time with the Hornets wouldn't be a memorable one.

The Nigerian made just 72 appearances across all competitions in five years contracted at Vicarage Road, and has since spent three seasons in Italy with Udinese, where he netted just four times in 79 appearances.

He had most recently been contracted to Emirati side Al Wasl for the 2024/25 season, but left after not making a single appearance for the club, and has been a free agent ever since.

Emmanuel Dennis

It was reported by the Daily Mail on Monday that Watford were exploring a deal to re-sign Nigerian forward Dennis for the third time, having had spells with the Hornets between 2021/22 and the second half of the 2023/24 season.

Dennis had last been contracted to Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest, but was released this summer, with the club no longer requiring his services.

It has since transpired that Watford have opted against re-signing Dennis again, at least for now, with the forward still training with the club, and will revisit the situation in January.

Patrick Bamford

Bamford took the Premier League by storm in the 2020/21 season with Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa, scoring 17 times, finishing on the same tally as the likes of Son Heung-min, Bruno Fernandes and Mohamed Salah, whilst grabbing nine assists in the top flight.

Before that, Bamford had spent time in the Nottingham Forest and Chelsea youth system, before loan for MK Dons, Derby County, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace, Norwich, and Burnley.

The once-capped England international has over 200 appearances in the Championship and 100 in the Premier League to his name, and now at 32, is without a club, having left Leeds by mutual consent this summer.

The striker has struggled with injuries throughout his career and struggled for minutes at Elland Road last season, but has proven he knows where the back of the net is, and if a second-tier club can strike a deal with sensible wages for Bamford, he could yet prove he is not done just yet.