There is a feeling amongst Newcastle fans and other fanbases around the country that shopping in England’s lower divisions is risky and the leagues are not close to the standard of the Premier League.
This is true in a sense, as the gap between the Premier League and the EFL is big, financially and in quality. This makes some people quick to judge certain EFL players we’re linked. but I disagree with judging players based on the team and league they play in – if there are clear signs of their quality and they fit into the side, it shouldn’t matter.
The Championship, however, does have an unfair reputation. The quality of the Championship is very high, still far from the Premier League but compared to other top leagues across Europe it really isn’t that far off. There is an abundance of top-quality players in this league with the level of coaches also increasing. This season we have a Championship team making the semi-final of the FA Cup, beating Premier League opposition to get there.
Also, it is much easier for players to adapt to the Premier League than any other foreign leagues. The Championship is played at a similar intensity as the Premier League and the physicality of the league is also as high. These factors are sometimes what makes it difficult for foreign players to adapt to the Premier League and English football. We would not have to worry about this when it comes to buying from the Championship.
I should say before I start suggesting players, I am not saying we should do all our business in the Championship – I am purely just trying to debunk the myth about Championship players.
So, I am going to focus on three priority positions for Newcastle in the summer; we need a young ball playing centre back who can defend channels, be aerially dominant and deal with the physicality of certain strikers. We need a defensive midfielder (number six) who can dominate duels, win second/loose balls, cover a lot of space and is reliable at progressing the ball out of the first phase. Finally, we need a right winger who is comfortable in central areas, has an eye for goal, good technical ability and has multiple dimensions to their game.
Centre back
Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Southampton)
Harwood-Bellis is a 22 year old right centre back, who stands at 6’2 and is currently on loan at Southampton. I have been a big fan of his for a long time, with me first tweeting about him in November 2022. He became a regular starter for Burnley during the title winning season in 22/23 and the expectation was that he’d be playing in the Premier League next season.
Instead, he joined Russel Martin’s Southampton side where he has become a bit of a fan favourite. His ball playing ability is what stands out most, with him being so successful at two possession heavy sides in Burnley and Southampton. He is very progressive with the ball, especially with his passing where he is in the top 92 percentile for progressive passes in the Championship, averaging 5.27 per 90. He defends the channels well, which is especially important for us as we have always struggled to defend that channel between Schar and Trippier.
One part of his game that slightly lets him down is his aerial ability. He only wins 58.7% aerial duels per 90 that puts him in the 29th percentile. That is only slightly better than Schar who wins 50% of his.
Nathan Wood (Swansea)
Wood is a 21 year old right centre back, who also stands at 6’2. He was signed by Swansea in the summer of 2022 for around £400,000 from Middlesbrough. Just like Harwood-Bellis, he has represented England at U21 level. However, Wood is more versatile though, playing minutes at right back, in both sides at centre back and defensive midfielder. Wood would be a very useful player to have at any Premier League side; he’s multifunctional and would offer real value for money.
His ability to defend the channels is really impressive and one of the reasons why he has had minutes at right back. He defends wide and central areas well, whilst also being comfortable in possession, although he’s not as progressive with the ball as I’d like, being in the 62nd percentile for progressive passes per 90.
Aerially he isn’t as dominant either, slightly better than Schar and Harwood Bellis where he wins 61% of his duels per 90. For me it’s Wood’s versatility that makes me want him the most.
Defensive midfielder
Ben Sheaf (Coventry)
A 26 year old defensive midfielder, who stands 6ft tall. Sheaf is a Hale end graduate (Arsenal academy) but was never able to make it into the Gunners’ first team and had loan moves at Stevenage, Doncaster and Coventry before the Sky Blues made the move permanent in 2021.
Sheaf is a fantastic ball winning midfielder who covers a ridiculous amount of ground but can also play with the ball in deep areas. His technical ability is brilliant, he offers a great range of passing, is very evasive and the quality of his passes are very consistent. His stats back it up as well – 7.72 progressive passes per 90 (93rd percentile), 4.01 tackles per 90 (99th percentile). For me, Sheaf is genuinely one of the best budget number sixes out there and would drastically improve this Newcastle squad.
Pierre Ekwah (Sunderland)
Now this shout is very rouge as a Sunderland player, especially after his performance against us in the Tyne and Wear derby. He’s a 21 year old defensive midfielder, who stands 6ft 2. The Frenchman has been in England for a while now, joining Chelsea in 2018 for 2 million euros before making a move to West Ham in 2021. Then in January 2023, Sunderland gave him his first run of first team football.
He is still quite a raw talent and can be too brave on the ball at times, as we all saw when he gave the ball away to Almiron in our derby win, but his ball winning ability is brilliant. With help from his impressive physical profile, he is very smart with his movement and seems to always be in the right place to sniff out danger. This isn’t a signing I see Newcastle making, but I won’t be surprised if we see him in the Premier League soon.
Right Wing
Morgan Whittaker (Plymouth)
Whittaker is a 23 year old right winger, who is tall for a wide man at 6ft 2. He has had a tough start to his career, where he started at Derby before joining Swansea in 2021. Since then, he’s had two loan moves at Lincoln and Plymouth, where the latter made his move permanent in the 2023 summer.
Whittaker has scored 19 goals and registered eight assists this season in the Championship. This is especially impressive when you consider the side he is playing in, with Plymouth heading into the final weekend of the Championship season at risk of relegation. He loves to cut inside on his left foot, where he shows off his brilliant ball striking, his weight and range of passing is very impressive, where he can play balls over the top and in behind.
Just like Gordon, he is also very versatile and can play across the entire front line. He is more of an efficient goal scorer, like Barnes. Not the flashiest player but knows where the back of the net is and a very powerful runner in behind. At round £15 million, it would be a no brainer for me. If you would like to read a more in depth piece on Whittaker, TomTalksToon, a fellow writer for the blog, wrote an excellent thread on X about Whittaker.
Tom Fellows (West Brom)
Fellows is a 20 year old right winger who is stands 6ft. He is a West Brom academy graduate who was able to have a feel for the English game last season for Crawley, where he played 40 games for them in League Two. But this season he has made his breakthrough into the West Brom side, who look set to earn a play-off place under an excellent coach in Carlos Corberán.
Fellows is a different type of player to Whittaker. He’s flashier and has got a bit more flair. Good in 1v1 situations, very good at using his burst of pace to drive past players on the outside and a good crosser of the ball as well. His ball carrying ability is very impressive, with 5.02 progressive carriers per 90 (92nd percentile). His output so far this season has been decent, where he is averaging 0.49 g/a per 90.
He is still a very raw talent but has showcased a lot of his qualities this season. He isn’t the exact profile I’d expect us to look for in the summer, but he would offer some tactical flexibility, as his ability to hold width is something we don’t really have at our disposal. I think Whittaker is definitely more established than Fellows, but I do like the fact Fellows has a profile we don’t currently have in the squad.
Ultimately, this piece isn’t necessarily a recommended signing piece, I am more pointing towards the fact that the Championship has many players that would improve us as a squad or even our starting eleven. With all the FFP issues we are trying to overcome, budget-friendly, value for money signings is a smart route to go down and the Championship market is full of them.
I hope you enjoyed my piece, thanks for reading!
