Championship market values: Summerville moves up the top 10 - Wharton among biggest winners

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Following the market value update in the Premier League earlier this week and after the first 22 match days have been played, Transfermarkt has now adjusted or confirmed the market values of all players in the English Championship. Among the biggest winners are several young talents such as Leeds winger Crysencio Summerville and Blackburn midfielder Adam Wharton, who both have hopes of playing in the Premier League next season. Despite a drop of €13 million in squad value, league leaders Leicester maintain their spot at the top of the squad value rankings, where Sunderland boast the biggest increase and now occupy fourth place, behind the three teams relegated from the top tier last summer.

After a mixed start to the season, Leeds went on a seven-game unbeaten run with six wins and a draw stretching from the end of October to mid-December before recently losing to Sunderland and drawing against Coventry. One of the main reasons for the Elland Road side’s impressive run is Dutch winger Summerville, who was directly involved in 16 goals in 19 Championship games this term and is one of the most in-form players in the English second division this season. Following the loan departures of Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra, the 22-year-old stepped up his game and is rewarded with a market value upgrade of €3m to €18m, moving him into the top 10 of the most valuable players in the league, now level with teammates Georginio Rutter, Pascal Struijk and Illan Meslier, whose market value drops by €2m.

Following his Championship debut last season, Blackburn’s homegrown talent Wharton has quickly emerged as one of the first names on head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson’s team sheet in the current campaign. At only 19 years of age, the England U20 international is already very mature and has plenty of potential. Following interest from Newcastle in the summer, even more Premier League sides are monitoring his situation closely: Wharton has been linked with the likes of Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham, among other clubs, in the past few months and bids for the talented central midfielder might come in as early as January. With Blackburn still in the race for a playoff spot, the price tag will be high. As a result, the youngster’s market value rises from €3.5m to €10m.

Market Value

A. Wharton Central Midfield

€10.00m

Youngsters Gray and Bellingham on the up - Sunderland biggest winners

There are plenty more examples of talented young players that have yet to fulfil their full potential and are going up in value as well. The biggest winner of the upgrade, Leeds United’s Archie Gray, more than doubles his market value from €6m to €14m following a very impressive first half of the season. The Premier League’s top clubs are already following the 17-year-old’s development, especially since he made his England U20 debut alongside Wharton in November. Sunderland right-back Trai Hume (+€3.2m to €5m), teammate Jobe Bellingham (+€3m to €9m), winger Jaden Philogene (+€3m to €8m) of Hull City and Norwich’s Jonathan Rowe (+€4.5m to €5m) also find themselves among the players aged 21 or younger to receive major market value boosts.

Market Value

J. Bellingham Attacking Midfield

€9.00m

Mainly thanks to Hume and Bellingham, Sunderland register the biggest gain in squad value and rise by €9.4m to €80.4m. The gap to the three clubs relegated from the Premier League remains massive, however, with Southampton (-€16.2m to €202.6m), Leeds (+€3.3m to €204.9m) and Leicester (-€13.2m to €238.9m) all worth over €200m and therefore more than top-tier sides Sheffield United (€144.9m) and Luton Town (€103.4m). Surprise team Ipswich, sitting just three points behind the Foxes in the Championship table, also rise by €4.5m, but, with a new total valuation of €39.2m, remain way down the squad value rankings, similar to Luton last season.

The players with the biggest downgrades include several stars of the top clubs, who have to prove themselves at a higher level again. While Southampton pair Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Ché Adams are the biggest losers of the update with drops of €3m to €22m and €15m respectively, Leeds winger Wilfried Gnonto and Leicester striker Kelechi Iheanacho are downgraded by €2m each and now stand at €16m. Younger players such as Harwood-Bellis and Gnonto could quickly rise again, however, if performances improve and should they be able to show their talent at a higher level soon.

Market Value

K. Iheanacho Centre-Forward

€16.00m

How Transfermarkt market values work

The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees. 

The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).