Plymouth Argyle are gaining early promotion advantage - Cardiff City, Luton Town may not like it | OneFootball

Plymouth Argyle have started the transfer window in flying fashion and may have Cardiff City and Luton Town worried

Plymouth Argyle’s relegation from the Championship last season was bittersweet to say the least.

Under Miron Muslic’s rule, the Pilgrims looked to be a competitive second-tier outfit, finishing the campaign 11th in the form table whilst comfortably beating the likes of Preston North End, Coventry City and Sheffield United during the season’s final stages.

However, their disastrous start under Wayne Rooney was too much to overturn and now they face the prospect of League One football once more.

With Tom Cleverly now in charge, Plymouth have made a flying start to the transfer window and are looking good to reclaim their second-tier status.

Plymouth Argyle have stolen a march on Cardiff City and Luton Town in the summer window

Argyle have started the window with a bang, signing Jack MacKenzie, Caleb Watts, Bradley Ibrahim, Xavier Amaechi, Jamie Paterson and Owen Oseni.

Fleetwood Town defender Brendan Wiredu is set to be their seventh addition of the summer and very quickly their squad has begun to take shape.

This will allow Cleverley to prepare well throughout pre-season, instead of having to wait for new signings to come in before fully being able to start planning.

Automatically, Argyle have a leg up over their rivals in the promotion race, especially when considering the lack of business done in the Cardiff City and Luton Town camps.

The Hatters have made just two signings so far, adding George Saville and Kal Naismith to their ranks.

Cardiff are yet to get any deals over the line, partly due to their extended hunt for a new manager earlier in the summer.

Plymouth were in the strongest state at the end of last season and have strengthened the most in comparison to their fellow relegated sides, which means that on paper they should have the best shot of achieving promotion next term.

League One will be extremely competitive next season – Cardiff and Luton should follow Plymouth’s example

Last year saw Birmingham City run away with the League One title, leaving the rest of the division in their wake and eliminating the possibility of a title fight.

This shouldn’t be the case next term.

The three relegated sides from the Championship will be desperate to reclaim their second-tier status at the first time of asking, to avoid the financial implications of an extended stay in League One.

Stockport County, Wycombe Wanderers and Leyton Orient will be determined to put play-off heartbreak behind them and go again next season, whilst the likes of Huddersfield Town, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool are hoping to put strong summer windows to good use and progress up the table.

This level of competition means that Cardiff and Luton can’t rest on their laurels and have to bolster their squads in the summer window.

If not, they risk falling behind not just Plymouth, but multiple other sides in the third-tier.

There is still plenty of time for the pair to address their squads and add sufficiently, but the longer the window goes on, the more options begin to reduce.

This increases the advantage that the likes of Plymouth already possess, as they have already completed the lion’s share of their business and have turned their attention to the upcoming campaign.