Seven Stars We’re Excited to Watch in the 2026-27 Championship

The 2026-27 Championship season begins on Friday, but which players should you be looking forward to watching in the competition? We’ve compiled a seven-man selection.

Often dubbed the most exciting league in football, the Championship is also among the least predictable domestic competitions to follow in Europe. A breeding ground for future stars, it’s been the perfect stage for young footballers to show off their talent before moving on to (or back into) top-flight football.

Ahead of the 2026-27 season, we’ve picked out seven players we’re excited to see play in the Championship this campaign. Some of them are better known than others, but nonetheless, we feel it could be an important season for all seven of our selections.

So, who made the cut?

Jarrod Bowen – West Ham United

Jarrod Bowen is the best player in any Championship squad in 2026-27. He’s seemingly committed his future to West Ham, so the Hammers’ captain could be the man to fire them back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

He isn’t a player winding down his career – far from it. Across the last three seasons, only seven players scored more Premier League goals than Bowen (38), while his 25 assists were bettered by only Mohamed Salah (35) and Bruno Fernandes (39).

Overall, Bowen has scored 65 goals and assisted 49 more across his 231 top-flight games with West Ham, making him the player with the most Premier League goal involvements (114) for the club. This season will see him play outside the top tier for the first time since 2019-20 at Hull City.

In his final three seasons at Hull between 2017-18 and 2019-20, Bowen tallied more goal involvements (64 – 52 goals, 12 assists) than any other player in the Championship. Expect more of the same from Bowen in 2026-27.

Zan Vipotnik – Swansea City

Few would have had Zan Vipotnik down as finishing as the Championship top scorer last season following his first campaign in England, when he netted seven times in 42 league appearances for Swansea.

But Vipotnik was a thorn in the side of many Championship defences last season, scoring 23 goals and winning the top scorer award, as well as securing a place in the official Championship Team of the Season. That was despite Swansea having a fairly ordinary season collectively, finishing 11th and nine points off the play-off spots.

The Swans were heavily reliant on Vipotnik last season, with the Slovenian netting 40.4% of their goals (23 of 57); no one else managed more than six for the club.

The arrival of Ross Stewart from Southampton might help Vipotnik, as the Scottish forward averaged the second-most goals per 90 (0.73) in the Championship last season (800+ mins played).

Vipotnik converted a higher proportion (22.0%) of his non-penalty shots than any of the other 15 players to score more than 10 Championship goals last season.

Vipotnik might not remain at Swansea, with strong transfer links to promoted Hull City this month. If he does stay, it will be a tough task for him to replicate last season’s feats in front of goal, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on him.

The last player to score 20+ league goals in back-to-back Championship seasons was Marlon Harewood in 2002-03 and 2003-04 – can Vipotnik be the next?

Ethan Galbraith – Stoke City

It was a surprise when Swansea allowed midfielder Ethan Galbraith to join Championship rivals for a reported fee of £10 million this summer. True, it’s a lot of money for a player who’s played just one season of Championship football, but it could be a worthwhile investment.

Galbraith spent a single season with the Swans after signing from Leyton Orient last summer, but he was one of their most composed players in possession. Technically gifted, Galbraith displays a lot of calm on the ball.

He completed more passes per 90 than any other Swansea midfielder or forward in the Championship last season (49.6) but also regained possession from opponents the most in the squad (201).

A key part of Swansea’s build-up play in 2025-26, only Eom Ji-sung (4.4) averaged more shot-ending open-play sequence involvements per 90 than Galbraith (4.3) among Swans players.

The Northern Irish midfielder will start life as a Stoke player in the Championship with a game against Swansea on Saturday afternoon. He’ll be looking to show his quality and get his new club off to a promising start while reminding Swansea fans what they’re missing.

Lorent Tolaj – Bristol City

This will be a fourth successive season of progression for Lorent Tolaj. Each of the previous three campaigns saw him score at least 14 league goals at every level, from the National League in 2023-24 with Aldershot (19 goals), to League Two with Port Vale (14) during 2024-25, to League One last term (18 – 1 for Port Vale and 17 for Plymouth Argyle).

Now he’s going to test himself in the Championship following a summer move from the Devon side to Bristol City for a fee thought to be in the region of £4m.

Not only did he finish last season as the fourth top scorer in League One (18), just six players assisted more goals than he did (8). Overall, only Dom Ballard (27) was involved in more goals than Tolaj (26) in the third tier. The two players will be teammates in 2026-27 after Bristol City also signed Ballard from Leyton Orient this summer.

Being a high-volume shooter helped his goal tally, with Tolaj’s 113 shots more than any other player in League One last season. He averaged 3.7 shots per 90 – a figure that only Aaron Connolly (4.0) bettered.

Léo Scienza – Southampton

Léo Scienza has been at Southampton for less than a year after arriving from Heidenheim in September 2025, but he’s already made a big impact at the south coast club.

With 10 assists in 39 league matches, Scienza was Southampton’s leading assister in the Championship last season. With an additional seven goals, the Brazil-born forward finished 2025-26 with the joint-most league goal involvements at the club alongside Finn Azaz.

He topped the club rankings for expected assists per 90 (0.28) while only Ryan Manning (2.2) averaged more chances created per 90 than him (2.1) in the Championship for Saints.

One of the most exciting players in the division when running with the ball at his feet, Scienza was involved in 11 Championship goals following a ball carry last season (6 goals, 5 assists), three more than any other player.

Only Abdul Fatawu (78) had more of his ball carries lead to either a shot or chance created than Scienza (75).

Othmane Maamma – Watford

Othmane Maamma is a player Watford fans are very excited about seeing again in 2026-27. The only worry is that with plenty of clubs across Europe interested in taking him off the Hornets’ hands, he might not last the season in Hertfordshire.

Originally bought last summer as someone Watford wanted to slowly integrate into first-team action, Maamma made a name for himself at the Under-20 World Cup with Morocco, helping them win the trophy and earning himself the Golden Ball for the player of the tournament.

Maamma then made his Watford debut in November and tallied four goals and an assist in Championship action, with his 30 open-play chances created the fourth most at the club from his first appearance onwards.

The 20-year-old led the Championship rankings for take-ons per 90 (8.9), successful take-ons per 90 (2.9) and take-ons in the opposition’s half per 90 (6.5) last season when considering all players to play at least 800 minutes.

Watford have a great track record of elevating young stars and moving them on for big transfer fees – Maamma will undoubtedly be the next.

Mason Melia – Lincoln City

Eighteen-year-old Mason Melia is one to keep a close eye on in 2026-27. Lincoln City reportedly fought off a handful of clubs to bring him in on loan from Tottenham Hotspur for the season. Despite his young age and lack of experience, there are signs he could be an exciting prospect.

Before moving to Spurs, Melia made a name for himself in the League of Ireland Premier Division with St Patrick’s Athletic, where he scored 21 goals at an average of one every 202 minutes – the first of those came when he was just 15 years, 281 days old against UCD in June 2023.

After only making his Premier League 2 debut for Spurs in April, Melia scored three times in six appearances in the competition, including his first only three minutes after coming off the bench in the 3-2 win over West Ham on 4 April.

It might be a few months until Melia is trusted with a place in Lincoln’s starting XI, but he’s undoubtedly someone many have high hopes for.

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