The top 5 Championship talents Sunderland should be scouting ahead of summer transfer window
Attention will already be turning to the summer transfer window, but which Championship players should Sunderland be targeting?
The January transfer window is almost over, and already, clubs will be looking ahead to the summer market.
Sunderland were very busy last summer, signing no fewer than 15 players following their promotion back to the Premier League. The Black Cats have looked extremely comfortable back in the top-flight, but to avoid a slump, they must strengthen further ahead of 2026/27. The Championship could be a fertile hunting ground for Sunderland in this regard, but who are the top players in the second tier they should be looking at?
1. Hayden Hackney
- Position: Central midfield
- Club: Middlesbrough
There’s no better place to start than the most valuable player in the Championship, according to Transfermarkt, who give Hayden Hackney a market value of €25m (£21.7m). There’s a good reason for that, too, with Hackney notching nine goals and eight assists for Middlesbrough over the last two seasons alone, while he’s first among his teammates in the Championship this season for passes completed (1,518), chances created (54) and tackles (50). A true all-rounder with a massive future in the game.
Given he plays for North-East rivals Middlesbrough, signing Hackney would be quite controversial, especially if Boro earn promotion to the Premier League. However, he’d provide incredible energy and ability alongside Granit Xhaka next season, as well as massive long-term profit potential.
2. Taylor Harwood-Bellis
- Position: Centre-back
- Club: Southampton
Taylor Harwood-Bellis has endured a real rollercoaster with Southampton, earning promotion in 2024, suffering relegation in 2025 and, now, settling into the Championship this season. While the Saints have disappointed this campaign, Harwood-Bellis has excelled, notching four goals and two assists at one end, and posting team-highs at the other end for clearances (193), aerial duels won (91) and possessions won in the middle third (50).
Harwood-Bellis is composed on the ball, reads the game well and already has one cap for England. And at just 23 years old, he fits Sunderland’s modus operandi in the transfer market perfectly. If Southampton continue to flounder and fail to earn promotion back to the Premier League this season, they may be powerless to stop Harwood-Bellis from leaving.
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3. Abdul Fatawu
- Position: Winger
- Club: Leicester City
The long-term absence of Abdul Fatawu undoubtedly contributed to Leicester’s miserable 2024/25 campaign, but either side of that, he’s been lethal in the Championship. The winger has registered 12 goals and 20 assists in 69 second-tier appearances to date, while this season, he has registered 74 completed take-ons - at least 40 more than any other Leicester player - and sits second at the Foxes for chances created (35).
Fatawu’s contract at the King Power Stadium runs until the summer of 2029, so he wouldn’t come cheap. However, Leicester look highly unlikely to earn promotion, which would affect his price.
4. Zan Vipotnik
- Position: Striker
- Club: Swansea City
Zan Vipotnik joined Swansea in 2024 following the mutual termination of his contract at Bordeaux amid their financial collapse. The Slovenia international endured a tough first season in South Wales, scoring just seven goals in 42 appearances as Swansea finished 11th. This season, however, Vipotnik has been a man on a mission, bagging 13 goals in 27 Championship outings - only four players have more - and another two in the EFL Cup, one of which came against Premier League opposition in Nottingham Forest.
Vipotnik is only 23 years old and already a regular at national team level. While his contract runs until 2028, he signed for Swansea on a free transfer, so represents pure profit potential that could tempt them to sell. Wilson Isidor is being linked with a move to Besiktas, so he could provide great competition for Brian Brobbey.
5. Harrison Burrows
- Position: Left-back
- Club: Sheffield United
Reinildo has been unshakably solid at left-back for Sunderland, while they have depth in Dennis Cirkin. However, the latter doesn’t look likely to stick around at the Stadium of Light too much longer, while Reinildo recently turned 32.
In terms of Championship left-backs, they don’t come much more exciting than Harrison Burrows. The 24-year-old has clocked seven goals and eight assists over the last two seasons combined, following a 2023/24 campaign in which he posted 12 goals and 17 assists across all competitions for League One side Peterborough.
Burrows’ market value currently stands at €12m (£10.4m), but despite Sheffield United improving in the second half of this season, they still sit 17th in the Championship and way off the promotion race. Burrows will surely feel like this summer is his chance to break into the Premier League, and he feels very much like a Sunderland-esque player.