Josh Sargent, Crysencio Summerville and the 15 EFL stars set for Premier League moves this summer

There’s no better place to start than with the Championship Player of the Season. Summerville had his moments in the Premier League after breaking into the Leeds first team in 2022, but he’s taken his game to another level over the past nine months.

The Dutch live wire is an archetypal, modern wide man. Usually starting out on the left, he’s mastered cutting inside onto his favoured right foot and curling the ball into the far corner. That’s not the only trick he has up his sleeve, though.

He’s also been Leeds’ primary, creative force. Only one Championship player registered more shot-creating actions per 90 minutes over the course of the season, with his pinpoint dead-ball delivery helping in this regard. He carries the ball like few others too and will have no shortage of clubs interested this summer, especially following Leeds’ play-off final heartache at the hands of Southampton.

It was difficult to watch 18-year-old Gray bawling his eyes out following Leeds’ sickening defeat at Wembley. The latest in his family, after father Andy and grandfather Frank, to represent the Whites, the youngster missed just two Championship games for Daniel Farke’s side, who finished on 90 points.

Beginning the campaign in central midfield, he displaced club stalwart Luke Ayling at right-back in October and has since made the position his own. He’s taken every challenge thrown at him in his stride, looking unflappable at the back and even scoring a vital goal in a dramatic victory against Leicester in February.

It’s evident he’s destined to reach the top. Leeds will be hoping that it’s with them, though the big boys of English football will already be circling following confirmation that the Whites will be in the second tier once again next season.

Following Leeds’ relegation last season, Harrison exercised a clause in his contract that allowed him to depart the club on loan, linking up with Everton. And he soon established himself as an important member of Sean Dyche’s side, ending the campaign with 35 appearances to his name.

Although no option to buy was included in the deal, Dyche has already hinted that the Toffees are interested in making Harrison’s stay permanent. “The first thing was making sure we were safe, then once we were safe we could re-evaluate the internal truth with the financial side of what we can do, so that will be an ongoing process,” he said recently.

Everton could also try and tempt Wilfried Gnoto away from Elland Road this summer, having made an approach for the wide player last summer. A lot will depend on each clubs’ finances, though.

The younger brother of Liverpool’s Sepp van den Berg has begun to forge a fearsome reputation of his own at the Riverside Stadium. First breaking into the side as a right-back, he finished the campaign at the heart of Michael Carrick’s defence despite being just 19.

Van de Berg reads the game excellently, is quick enough to mop up balls in behind and already possesses a physical presence that defies his tender years. He’s a leader too, having been handed the captain’s armband against Stoke City back in March.

Carrick is clearly a fan, saying after that game: “He’s played an awful lot this year. He’s got a real presence. I know he’s young and I understand that but I thought he proved again today why I picked him as captain. I thought he played well in tough circumstances. That was the reason for that decision. He has a bright future.”

Middlesbrough have always had a knack for producing their own players and the latest ready-made star off the conveyor belt is Hackney. Following a breakout 2022-23 campaign, the defensive midfielder has continued his development in recent times, despite some struggles with injury.

Thanks to his impressive passing range and sublime technical skills, Hackney has drawn comparisons with his current manager, Carrick. And while it’s too early to say whether he’ll reach the incredible heights that the ex-England international did, it’s evident that the 21-year-old has bags of potential.

His profile is a difficult one to recruit in the modern game and the fact that he is homegrown might convince one or two Premier League sides to take a punt on him this summer.

Birmingham endured a miserable 2023-24 season, eventually being relegated to League One on the final day. One of the few bright spots of their campaign was the continued emergence of James as a first-team star.

The 19-year-old played several different roles for the Blues, with his deployment in an attacking-midfield berth allowing him to add goals to his game. And after netting eight Championship strikes, he will surely be playing his football away from St Andrew’s next season.

James is already a full Wales international and under the right management has the ability to make a genuine impact in the top tier in the not-so-distant future.

Last time USMNT star Sargent was in the Premier League, it didn’t go particularly well. During the 2021-22 campaign he managed just two top-flight goals for Norwich as the Canaries finished 15 points from safety at the foot of the table.

Since then, though, Sargent has improved dramatically. After a promising 2022-23 campaign, he has exploded over the past six months or so. Despite missing large chunks of the season with injury, the American finished with 16 Championship goals, which included a run of nine strikes in just 10 games to help propel the Canaries into the play-off spots.

Sargent picked up knocks in both of those promotion-deciding games against Leeds, though, as his side went out in the semi-finals at a whimper. Sargent could still end up playing in the top flight, however, with Fulham, Bournemouth and Brentford among his admirers at this early stage. The American has the chance to further increase his standing by performing well at the Copa America this summer.

And Sargent isn’t the only Norwich player who could move on. Sara has also attracted plenty of admirers with his dominant midfield displays this season. Playing in several different roles, the Brazilian – who arrived from Sao Paulo in 2022 – missed just one game in all competitions, registering 27 goal contributions along the way.

Sara’s left foot is capable of producing some truly magical things, while his physicality and close control means he should have little issue stepping up to facing better equipped Premier League midfields.

Any clubs who are interested could find it difficult to prise him away from Carrow Road, though. Sara is loving life in East Anglia, telling The Guardian recently: “The level in the Championship is so high and the club, the structure, the pitch, is amazing, and the city’s welcome was so warm. It was like love at first sight. If I had the chance to do this move again, I would do it 100 times. It has really helped me develop as a player.”

Sunderland weren’t able to match their 2022-23 season, when they reached the play-offs, this time out, but that had nothing to do with Clarke’s form. The ex-Leeds man notched a career-best 15 goals for the Black Cats, clinching the club’s Player of the Year award in the process.

Clarke has had one shot at the big time before, joining Tottenham as part of their disastrous 2019 summer transfer window, but failed to make the grade. After a couple of tricky loan spells, the forward has found his home in the North East, though he reportedly turned down the club’s offer of a new contract earlier this season.

This has seemingly opened the door for Clarke to move on, with West Ham among the clubs that have been linked with him in the past. Whether Julen Lopetegui’s ascension to the managerial hot seat will change their stance remains to be seen.

Hume joined Sunderland in January 2022 from Northern Irish side Linfield. It’s a club hardly known for nurturing the stars of the future, but the young right-back could end up being one of their first success stories.

The Northern Ireland international did not miss a single Championship game for the Black Cats in 2023-24, with no player in the division coming remotely close to matching the 152 tackles he completed. Hume also made just one error that led to an opponent’s shot all season long as he helped Sunderland register the fourth-best defensive record in the second tier.

He has a little bit of work to do going forward, but he’s clearly a superb defender. A lower-tier Premier League side would be lucky to have him.

Greaves fended off competition from some much-bigger names to earn a place in the Championship Team of the Season, captaining Hull City for a significant portion of the campaign as they recorded a seventh-placed finish.

He’s a Tiger through and through. The son of former Hull defender Mark, he was even a season-ticket holder before graduating into the first team several years back. However, with the club missing out on promotion, he might be tempted to move on this summer.

And he would tick a lot of boxes for a Premier League club. Not only has he got bags of experience, he’s also homegrown and left-footed, two qualities which always make a centre-back more desirable.

Joining Hull from Aston Villa on transfer deadline day, it did not take long for Philogene to justify the investment made in him. An exciting, goes-both-ways winger with an eye for the back of the net, he ended the campaign with 12 Championship goals. And that tally would have been higher if he wasn’t struck down by injury in December.

Capable of playing on either side of a front three and boasting four appearances for England Under-21 – as well as three goals – Hull will be hoping Philogene forms a key part of their promotion plans next season.

But the Tigers will likely have to stave off some top-flight interest before then. There has been talk of Aston Villa possessing a buy-back option, though Hull vice-chairman Tan Kesler has revealed that this only becomes active when the club is promoted.

Could Derby really Cashin on Eiran this summer? The Rams may have finally secured their return to the Championship, but they might have to navigate the trickier division without one of their star men.

Cashin – who was included in the League One Team of the Season – is reportedly attracting admiring glances from West Ham, while Brighton may also rekindle their interest in the Irishman. He seemed all set for a deadline-day move to the Seagulls last summer, only for things to collapse at the last minute.

“I must have spent about six hours at that Starbucks, probably even longer thinking about it,” Cashin recalled during an interview with the Derby Telegraph. “It’s fair to say that I got through a few hot chocolates and a lot of calls. But the move was on, then it was off. In the end, the fee got sorted but it was just too late to organise a medical.”

If Cashin does move on, all parties will be hoping things are wrapped up with plenty of time to spare this time around.

To say that few people saw Szmodics’ 27-goal season coming would be an understatement. In the previous campaign he’d not even got into double figures, but everything he touched this time out turned to gold.

Mostly operating in an advanced midfield role, his finishing was absolutely lethal, with not a single one of his strikes coming from the penalty spot. He’s not just a goalscorer either, with his long passing also proving a useful weapon in transition for Blackburn.

Now 28, Szmodics is aware that the Premier League door is closing, so he’ll surely push for a move if there’s sufficient interest over the next few weeks. “I’d like to think so [I could make the step up to the Premier League], but it’s about getting that opportunity and chance to do so,” he said recently.

“But hopefully I’ve shown people who doubted me in the Championship what I can do and that I can make that step up and do it at that level. We’ll have to see what the future holds.”

Without Whittaker, it’s pretty obvious that Plymouth would have lost their Championship status this season. Thanks to the former Swansea man’s 20 goals, the Pilgrims managed to avoid relegation on the final day.

These displays were enough to earn Whittaker a place in the Championship Team of the Season and it’s difficult to see him staying in Devon beyond the summer. Serie A giants Lazio already came in for him in January and Plymouth director of football Neil Dewsnip has already admitted that they’ll be more clubs looking to sign the devastating right winger next month.

“Will there be interest in him? I’m sure there will be. Good players are at a premium in the Championship. Even in the Premier League, so we will have to wait and see what develops. I have no idea if there is anything on the table at this moment in time,” he told Plymouth Live recently.