8 EFL Championship strikers we predict to score 12+ goals next season | OneFootball

Football League World has run the rule over some of the Championship's most fearsome frontmen ahead of the 2026/27 campaign

The 2026/27 Championship campaign will be hotly-anticipated throughout the summer months following a season of untold drama and surprise in English football's second-tier, which shaped storylines that no other division can conjure up.

From Southampton's now-infamous 'Spygate' saga involving play-off semi-final opponents Middlesbrough to Hull City's odds-defying promotion via the play-offs - having been widely billed as relegation candidates before finishing inside the top-six and beating Kim Hellberg's men at Wembley after the Saints' stunning expulsion, the Championship did not threaten to dip below the exciting and dramatic standards that are raised year after year.

Away from saga and scandal, the division was not short of attacking firepower either. Of course, any side looking to engineer a potential promotion push next time out will require a reliable source of goals leading the line, which is precisely what led Coventry City, Hull and, albeit to a lesser extent, Ipswich Town, to promotion, with Haji Wright and Oli McBurnie each returning 17 goals in the regular campaign.

With that in mind, Football League World has decided to run the rule over EIGHT frontmen who we believe are most likely to score 12 or more league goals in the 2026/27 season.

It's worth noting that FLW has decided against including Swansea City's Zan Vipotnik, who won the Championship's golden boot last term with 23 strikes to his name but has been routinely linked with a move out of South Wales amid reported interest from the likes of Benfica and Sporting CP.

Taty Castellanos and Zian Flemming, meanwhile, would have also represented likely inclusions, although their strong displays in relegated sides means that exits from West Ham and Burnley respectively feel rather probable before the new season commences in August.

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Wolves are preparing for a first Championship campaign since their 2017/18 title-winning term under now-West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo, and the Old Gold can call upon one of the division's most feared forwards of recent years in Adam Armstrong.

His arrival at Molineux back in February was representative of a club already keeping one eye on the Championship, with relegation having long been something of an inevitability, and while Armstrong only added two goals to his tally after arriving from Southampton, his goalscoring expertise outside of the Premier League speaks volumes.

Having already found the back of the net on 11 occasions from 29 appearances prior to leaving Southampton, the 29-year-old previously returned a remarkable haul of 24 strikes and 13 assists during his last full campaign in the Championship to help the Saints gain promotion through the play-offs in 2023/24.

Before that, the Newcastle United academy graduate plundered home 16 and 28 goals in consecutive seasons at Blackburn Rovers, and there's little stopping him from pulling up similar numbers next time around under Cesar Peixoto.

There is, of course, the small matter of Raul Jimenez's emotional return to Molineux to contend with, but with the Mexican international having celebrated his 35th birthday just last month, we're expecting Armstrong to lead the line with his Championship calibre - and do what he does best at this level.

Cyle Larin

Southampton were not rocked by Armstrong's mid-season departure and the decision to swiftly replace the talisman with Cyle Larin proved an inspired call, so much so that many Saints supporters would argue that Tonda Eckert has even upgraded his striker stable in the process.

The departure could've derailed Southampton's season, but Larin hit the ground running following his initial loan switch from Mallorca. The 92-cap Canadian international scored with his very first touch in Southampton colours against Watford and that would set the tone as the striker registered eight goals from 18 appearances, averaging a goal every 107 minutes.

Southampton have since made Larin's stay on the south coast a permanent one by exercising the loan-to-buy option with Mallorca, and he will be tasked with supplying the firepower to take Eckert's side back to the Premier League.

The 31-year-old has impressed at this summer's World Cup, too, scoring in successive outings against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Qatar for the co-hosts. That simply breeds further excitement and expectation for what Larin can do across a full Championship season, in which he has a viable claim to be the division's top scorer if his teammates continue to provide ample service.

Carlton Morris

Derby County will fancy their chances of competing for promotion next season having only missed out on a play-off finish on the final day, and the expansion of the top-six to a new top-eight model presents a real opportunity for the Rams to seize with both hands under John Eustace - and Carlton Morris will be key to such efforts.

Remarkable progress has been made over the last twelve months at Pride Park. Many fans are expecting the good times to continue rolling in what will be Eustace's second full season in charge, and FLW also anticipates Morris to build upon a positive debut campaign in the East Midlands following his move from Luton Town last summer.

Morris enjoyed an emphatic start to life at Derby by scoring 10 goals in his first 15 league appearances before missing the best part of three months with an ankle injury and while the 30-year-old struggled to rekindle his pre-setback levels in the latter stages of the season, he ultimately finished with a respectable haul of 12 strikes from 31 outings - 24 of which were starts.

The goalscoring responsibility on his shoulders will be upweighted until Patrick Agyemang returns to action next year, with the American forward set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a serious Achilles injury in April.

Agyemang's absence will be felt at Derby, but Morris can retain a goalscoring edge in Eustace's attack. He's established himself as a prolific operator who even offers so much outside of his goal threat at this level over the years, and having previously struck 20 times for Luton to lead them to the Premier League in 2024, there's no reason why Morris cannot return to those heights with a clean bill of health in a competitive, highly-created Rams side.

Cardiff City will be looking to go beyond simply battling against relegation after completing a speedy return to the Championship with a second-placed finish in League One, and Yousef Salech will have a big say in exactly how the Bluebirds fare in 2026/27.

The 24-year-old has been a revelation in the Welsh capital ever since his £3-4 million move from Swedish outfit Sirius in January of last year, scoring 24 goals from 63 appearances across all competitions.

Salech made an immediate impact during the second-half of the 2024/25 Championship campaign, and though his impressive return of eight goals in just 20 matches wasn't enough to keep the Bluebirds in the second-tier, it provides clear encouragement for what he could do under a full season at this level under Brian Barry-Murphy.

He played a significant role in Cardiff's promotion by adding 14 goals from 34 League One appearances, averaging 0.53 strikes per 90 minutes while missing two-and-a-half months of the run-in through injury.

Salech's physical presence and ability to occupy defenders often saw him targeted by hurly-burly League One backlines, and there's a good chance that he will be even more prolific in the Championship next time out.

With service from the likes of Rubin Colwill and Ollie Tanner to call upon, expectations for Salech will be high, while Cardiff's task simply needs to be retaining the frontman at all costs amid recent links to West Ham.

Two years ago at EURO 2024, England were on the brink of being dumped out of the tournament at the Last 16 stage by Slovakia, with a goal from Ivan Schranz putting them ever so close into the quarter-finals.

Assisting that goal was striker David Strelec, who had just had a successful loan stint at Slovan Bratislava, and his 2024-25 season as a permanent player there saw much interest arise in his services after a 25-goal haul in all competitions.

Come deadline day in September 2025 though, Middlesbrough finally got their man for an initial fee of £6.5 million, that could potentially rise to £9 million - it's fair to say though that as of now, Strelec hasn't exactly lived up to the billing that came with his lofty price-tag.

Niggling injuries kept Strelec out during several parts of his debut campaign in England, and whilst he only scored eight Championship goals, his last handful of games in the regular season saw three goals and an assist in four appearances, as he started to show what he's actually capable of.

With Boro in the second tier again, Strelec has the ability to be a 15 goal a season man if he can stay fit, but if he's also selected by Kim Hellberg as the player to lead the line for the Teessiders.

Andri Gudjohnsen

Blackburn Rovers narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship in 2025-26, and you have to wonder if they'd have been a bit safer if Andri Gudjohnsen was fit for the entirety of the season.

Son of Icelandic icon and ex-Chelsea forward Eidur, Gudjohnsen arrived at Ewood Park from Gent for around €2 million, with Lancashire rivals Preston North End unwilling to meet the price-tag earlier in the summer.

A season record of seven second tier goals looks underwhelming at first glance, but it came from just 25 appearances, meaning over the course of a full season, you'd expect the 24-year-old to score double figures and perhaps more than 12 if he was given the right service at the top end of the pitch.

Gudjohnsen missed two big stints for Rovers through injury in his first season at the club, suffering from hamstring troubles firstly before then having to undergo ankle surgery - a full recovery from that though should see him in the mix for goals next season.

Richard Kone

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Ivorian striker Richard Kone was linked to a whole host of clubs last summer, but it was QPR that he ended up at, with the Hoops paying an initial £2.75 million - but could rise to £5 million - for a player that netted 18 times in League One the previous season.

The R's were getting a raw striker who was not too long ago plying his trade in the lower depths of non-league, but a 10-goal haul in the Championship whilst not always leading the line due to the presence of Rumarn Burrell was a steady debut campaign in the second tier for Kone, who has since been capped by the senior Ivory Coast national team.

Soon to turn 23, Kone will only get better with more Championship experience, and his partnership with Burrell next season could get even stronger and more prolific - don't be surprised therefore if he cracks the 12-goal mark under Julien Stephan.

Mohamed Touré

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When Norwich City were in the process of selling Josh Sargent to Toronto FC in the January transfer window, the Canaries hierarchy probably thought that they were half-covered by Jovon Makama and his emergence following his summer move from Lincoln City - but their recruitment of Mohamed Touré proved to be an even bigger masterstroke.

Recruited from Danish side Randers for £2.6 million, Touré had only scored four Superliga goals in the 2025-26 season prior to his arrival at Carrow Road, but his prolific side came out in Norfolk, scoring 10 times in just 12 appearances in all competitions before the campaign was done, including two Championship hat-tricks.

It was a remarkable feat for the 22-year-old within his first few months in the EFL, and it was much-needed given Makama's season-ending injury in February - and you get the feeling that the sky is the limit for the Australia international.

Touré will probably gain further attention at the World Cup for the Socceroos, but as he prepares to lead the line for Norwich under Philippe Clement in 2026-27, expect his target to be 20 goals given how sharp he looked in-front of goal in the space of just a few months.