As ever before, massive money went in and out of the Championship during the January transfer window of season 2022/23. Here Tribalfootball.com'sChampionship expert Benjamin Bloom runs his eye over the biggest and most talked about deals of the winter market:
HARRY SOUTTAR (Stoke City to Leicester City)
Perhaps Harry Souttar might already be a Premier League player were it not for a lengthy layoff with injury last November. The big centre back made his return in time to star for Australia in the winter World Cup and Leicester have wasted no time making him the most expensive departure out of the Championship this window. Souttar will be missed by Stoke, with Manchester United centre back Axel Tuanzebe coming in on loan to fill his spot.
ANTOINE SEMENYO (Bristol City to Bournemouth)
Another big departure and another World Cup star on the move sees Antoine Semenyo making the jump from Bristol City to Bournemouth. Obviously it's not great to lose homegrown stars, but if that's the case then a decent fee needs to be reached and the money needs to be wisely invested back into the squad. The Robins have brought in a seasoned Championship nuisance up top in Harry Cornick from Luton, as well as the exciting and highly rated Anis Mehmeti from League One Wycombe where he was their star creative talent.
MARVELOUS NAKAMBA (Aston Villa to Luton Town on loan)
Apart from having a tremendous name, the arrival of Marvelous Nakamba on loan at Luton from Aston Villa looks an interesting one. Nakamba joined Villa for a big chunk of cash back in 2019 and has racked up over 50 Premier League appearances, on paper one would imagine he'd be a more than capable player at Championship level. Rob Edwards is starting to imprint his ideas on this Luton side, let's see how marvellous the midfield looks with the new arrival in there.
DAN BARLASER (Rotherham United to Middlesbrough)
It's hard to tell whether Dan Barlaser's move will have a bigger impact on the club he's leaving or arriving at. A quick look at Rotherham's stats for season has the departed Barlaser top for assists, accurate passes per 90 and chances created. He may not be quite as big a fish at the Riverside as at the New York, but that level of creativity added to a team already looking good for a potential play-off spot could still make an important difference.
LYLE FOSTER (Westerlo to Burnley)
They say the best time to strengthen is when you're already strong, so I'm sure the rest of the Championship were terribly pleased to see leaders Burnley spending big on a young striker. Vincent Kompany has looked once again to the Belgian marketplace that's been so effective for Burnley this season and brings in Lyle Foster from Westerlo. I can't claim to know masses about Foster, but Burnley were probably in need of adding a bit of youth to their central striker pool with Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez currently carrying the load.
AARON CONNOLLY (Brighton to Hull City on loan)
A player with something to prove at Championship level is Aaron Connolly, after Middlesbrough fans were left less than impressed by his loan spell with them last season. Hull boss Liam Rosenior has perhaps capitalised on his long standing Brighton contacts to bring in the attacker on loan for the remainder of the season and already the fit looks far better for Connolly. The Irishman's double against QPR for Hull last week means he's already matched last season's Championship tally and Tigers fans will hope there is much more to come.
MARQUINHOS (Arsenal to Norwich City on loan)
Forgive my overly simplistic logic, but a one named Brazilian winger arriving in the Championship sounds fun to me. Marquinhos joins Norwich from Arsenal and adds to the South American presence with Chilean Marcelino Nunez and fellow Brazilian Gabriel Sara already in situ in Norfolk. We're in 'wonderkid' territory with Marquinhos, who debuted for São Paulo aged 18 and joined Arsenal at the start of the season aged 19. Norwich are already in the midst of an uplift following David Wagner's arrival in the dugout, perhaps the young Brazilian can add a little extra spice.
JORDAN HUGILL (Norwich City to Rotherham United)
While Norwich welcome a Brazilian winger, they're letting go of a good old fashioned English target man in Jordan Hugill. The big centre forward has been a sought after commodity at Championship level since his days back at Preston. His permanent moves to West Ham and Norwich never quite worked out with Hugill being the main man, with plenty of Championship loan spells filling the gaps. I suspect he will be the main man at Rotherham and regular goals will certainly add to the Millers survival chances.
JOE GELHARDT (Leeds United to Sunderland on loan)
Do you want the good news of the bad news first? Sunderland fans will have been really pleased to see Ellis Simms' loan spot filled by Leeds striker Joe Gelhardt. If you've seen Gelhardt play he's somewhat of a hurricane of a footballer, incredibly direct and probably well placed to have a positive impact on Sunderland's season. Gelhardt would've probably been excited to work with the main man at the Stadium Of Light, star striker Ross Stewart. That's where the bad news comes in, Stewart is going to be out injured for the rest of the season making the arrival of Gelhardt all the more pertinent.
MARC ALBRIGHTON (Leicester City to West Brom on loan)
If you were looking to bring proven Premier League experience down to the Championship this transfer window then it's probably hard to top West Brom's loan deal for Leicester's Marc Albrighton. It's been 15 years and over 300 games at the top level for Albrighton with the amazing distinction of being a regular in Leicester's historical and still scarcely believable title win in 2016. West Brom are a team moving in the right direction under Carlos Coreberan and they have an absolute thoroughbred in Marc Albrighton to add vital knowledge to that Baggies dressing room.
