CHRIS DUNLAVY ON THE PLAYERS PREMIER LEAGUE TEAMS WILL BE EYEING
PREMIER League clubs shouldn't have needed any convincing about the quality of the Championship.
If they did, the recent success of players like Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen surely put any lingering doubts to rest.
The second tier is a fertile proving ground and as the January window creaks open, plenty of top-flight suitors are covetously peering downwards.
Speculation is rife, with Bournemouth's Lloyd Kelly and Blackburn's Ben Brereton Diaz among a clutch of players tipped for a move. As ever, though, it must be remembered that January is a notoriously sluggish window with a bark far worse than its bite.
Last January, just three EFL players joined a Premier League club for a fee – Benrahma, who made a £25m move from Brentford to West Ham after an initial loan; Ben Davies, the Preston defender pointlessly signed by Liverpool; and Josh King, whose switch from Watford to Everton fell flat.
Will this year's window do likewise? Here we analyse who is wanted, who is not, and who is likely to be packing a suitcase come deadline day…
LLOYD KELLY BOURNEMOUTH
Centre-back Kelly has emerged as arguably the hottest property of the January window, with a host of clubs on the 23-year-old's tail.
David Moyes and West Ham harbour a long-standing interest whilst Newcastle boss Eddie Howe – who signed Kelly from Bristol City for £13m in 2019 – sees Kelly as the ideal candidate to shore up an ageing Toon defence.
But he won't come cheap, or easy. Speaking about skipper Kelly last month, Cherries boss Scott Parker said: “He's someone you want to build your team around, Lloyd Kelly. He's a topclass central defender with massive ability, loads of room for improvement and attributes which are top quality. I wouldn't want him going anywhere.”
Those thoughts are shared in the boardroom, with any fee small fry compared to the millions on offer for promotion to the Premier League. It would take a huge offer, and probably agitation from Kelly himself, for any move to be sanctioned.
VERDICT: Unlikely
LEWIS O'BRIEN HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
Had Leeds met Huddersfield's asking price last summer, O'Brien would already be playing at Elland Road.
How the Whites must rue that cence after seeing eing reti-their campaign aign wrecked by injury to midfield lynchpin Kalvin Phillips.
O'Brien, an intelligent, box-tobox midfielder, would certainly have filled the void.
Will that harden Marcelo Bielsa's resolve this month? Perhaps, but there are several complicating factors. One is the new five-year contract that O'Brien, below, signed in September, with a rumoured £15m release clause ensuring no room for negotiation.
Another is the Terriers' proximity to the play-offs. Though strapped for cash, they are not so desperate that they need to cash in on their prized asset – who is in scintillating form – with a potential return to the Premier League on the line.
Finally – and perhaps most cru-cially – O'Brien is a Huddersfield fan who will not need much persuading to stay and finish the job. Leeds have their work cut out.
VERDICT: Non-starter
DAN NEIL SUNDERLAND
No player in League One has more assists than Sunderland's home-grown midfielder, whose rapid emergence has drawn scouts from across the country.
The 20-year-old had made only two professional appearances before this season but is already being touted as an England player of the future. He will play in the Premier League – the question is, when?
According to reports, very soon. Burnley are already weighing up a £3m offer, with an enticing loan-back option to sweeten the deal for promotion-chasing Sunderland.
Black Cats manager Lee Johnson prides himself on promoting young talent and it is hard to see the club standing in Neil's way. The only stumbling block could be the fee, which Sunderland will quite rightly attempt to inflate.
VERDICT: Probable
BRENNAN JOHNSON NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Another breakout star this season, 20-year-old forward Johnson has scored five goals and made another four for a Forest side on the fringes of the top six.
Brentford have already seen a £10m bid rejected, and are currently in talks with Forest over an improved £14m offer.
Nobody at the City Ground will consider that; Johnson's contract runs until the summer of 2023, promotion remains a possibility and alternative interest from the likes of Spurs and Arsenal has the potential to drive any fee sky high.
Johnson himself is also happy to hang fire and wait for a bigger club to pounce, which may mean waiting until the summer when his value decreases.
VERDICT: 50/50
BEN BRERETON DIAZ BLACKBURN ROVERS
A few months ago, this was a stone-cold certainty. A newly-minted international, 22-years-old, scoring goals for fun for a mid-ranking Championship side? Half the Premier League would have parted with £15m.
Now, however, matters are less clear cut. Thanks in no small part to the heroics of Brereton Diaz, Blackburn have risen to within touching distance of automatic promotion, with a £10m bonus on offer from the owners for sealing the deal.
Suddenly, the Chilean Stokie is worth an awful lot more to Rovers than he was before, and a fee north of £25m is being quoted to the likes of West Ham, Newcastle and Leeds.
Of course, that's the going rate for a prolific Championship striker. See Ollie Watkins and Adam Armstrong. Will a Premier League team want to spend that big in January on a player with just six months of stellar form under his belt? Amongst his suitors, only Newcastle can afford to gamble that kind of money – and the recent injury to Callum Wilson may be decisive.
VERDICT: Another 50/50
STEVE COOK BOURNEMOUTH
Cherries stalwart Cook is out of favour at the Vitality Stadium and is reportedly wanted by both Watford and Newcastle, the latter now managed by his old boss Eddie Howe.
A solid pair of hands who knows the top flight, he is exactly the sort of steady-eddie signing that managers crave in January. Whether he ends up in the Premier League will likely depend on other targets falling through, but he will definitely terminate his decade-long stay on the south coast.
“I am very respectful of Steve's situation,” said boss Scott Parker after dropping Cook from his squad last Monday. “There's a possibility he will leave in this window.”
VERDICT: Certain
KEANE LEWIS-POTTER HULL CITY
Speaking to the Athletic earlier this season, former Hull player Craig Fagan likened Lewis-Potter to Eden Hazard and claimed the 20-year-old wideman is “Premier League ready”.
“From a young age, he was more athletic than the other lads, he read the game better, looking steps ahead, and he was more
intelligent than the lads he was playing with,” said Fagan.
Brentford certainly agree; the Bees had a bid of £8m rejected in the summer after Lewis-Potter had scored 15 goals as the Tigers romped to the League One title.
Less prolific this season, he has impressed in a difficult campaign and a fee of around £12m should be enough to prise him away from owners who will take all the money they can get. West Ham – seemingly interested in everyone – are hovtering with intent.
VERDICT: Will go if the money is right
JOHN SWIFT READING
Consistently linked with Leeds in recent seasons – Marcelo Bielsa has publicly praised him in the past – Swift is enjoying the season of his life.
Eight goals and nine assists put him top of both charts for the Royals, and he is arguably the most technically proficient midfielder in the entire Championship.
With a contract due to expire in the summer, everything points to a January move. As ever, though, there is a big but.
Swift, below, is a peculiar player, who makes up for a lack of natural athleticism with rock-sol-id ability on the ball. Set pieces, long-shots, pinpoint passes; these are his stock in trade. Does that sound like a Leeds player?
More to the point, Swift will be 27 by the start of next season, meaning he probably has one last shot at a bumper contract. As a free agent in the sum- mer, he will be in a much stronger nego- tiating position and is almost certainly being advised to stay put for six months.
VERDICT: Non-starter
