SigningLab · Annual Report

Signing Accuracy — Championship 2025/26

Published on January 12, 2026

Executive Summary

353
Real signings
340
Evaluated
41%
Clubs' average hit rate
84
Successful
149
Unsuccessful

In total we identified 353 real signings by the clubs of Championship in the 2025/26 season — academy promotions, loan returns, internal moves and transfers that never went through are excluded. Of these, 340 are included in the hit-rate calculation; 13 are youth investments (under-23 with no game time), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes in the season count as unsuccessful.

League Analysis

Champions Coventry posted a hit rate of 67% on signings (6 evaluated), holding 1st place in the accuracy ranking. The bottom four in the table had an average hit rate of 26% on signings — below the league average (41%), highlighting the link between recruitment quality and sporting performance.

Coventry leads the accuracy ranking with 67% and Sheffield Wednesday closes the list with 20%. p. over the clubs' decisions).

Club Ranking

ClubLeague positionSigningsEvaluatedSuccessfulFairUnsuccessfulHit rate %SigningLab*
1Coventry86321
67%
100%
2Derby1615582
60%
93%
3Bristol City12º1010442
60%
90%
4Ipswich1111443
54%
82%
5Millwall1211524
54%
64%
6Southampton1212615
54%
83%
7Birmingham10º2525898
50%
84%
8Norwich1413454
50%
77%
9Middlesbrough1111515
50%
91%
10West Brom19º1111344
46%
46%
11Wrexham333212515
45%
78%
12Hull City1514194
39%
93%
13Preston14º1716367
38%
81%
14Stoke City17º1312255
38%
100%
15Blackburn22º1414428
36%
93%
16Charlton20º28275814
33%
85%
17Sheffield Utd13º1816268
31%
81%
18Swansea11º1413247
31%
92%
19Leicester21º77124
29%
57%
20QPR15º99135
28%
78%
21Portsmouth18º18183312
25%
89%
22Watford16º1212066
25%
75%
23Oxford United23º15151410
20%
100%
24Sheffield Wednesday24º1010046
20%
100%

* SigningLab: hit rate of SigningLab’s verdicts (recommend or not recommend) on each club’s evaluated signings, projected at the time of signing.

The difference between Signings and Evaluated are youth investments (under-23 with no game time in the season), classified separately. Signings without relevant minutes are unsuccessful (Did not deliver).

Season Highlights

The ten signings with the greatest technical impact of the season, according to the Player Impact Score (PIS).

PlayerClubPosMinG+AAvg ratingRatingSigningLab
Leo ScienzaSouthamptonM25017+107.16Excellent
Alfie DevinePrestonM31308+67.18Excellent
Ali AhmedNorwichM13104+36.98Excellent
Daniel PeretzSouthamptonG18900+07.29Excellent
Caleb TaylorMillwallD22493+25.58Excellent
Josh WindassWrexhamM240615+56.80Excellent
Finn AzazSouthamptonM307410+76.83Excellent
Daniel ImrayWest BromD11221+26.65Excellent
Ebou AdamsPortsmouthM12382+16.31Excellent
Sorba ThomasStoke CityF392810+117.01Excellent

Methodology

Club assessment — the universe of signings

The report considers exclusively genuine signings for the first-team squad, identified by the player's effective incorporation into the group between seasons. Excluded from the universe are: academy promotions, loan returns, internal administrative moves and transfers recorded but never completed. The aim is to measure the quality of market decisions — and those alone.

Player Impact Score (PIS)

Each evaluated signing receives a score from 0 to 100 that combines four observable technical dimensions: individual performance (average match ratings over the season), output (goals, assists and decisive actions adjusted for game time), collective performance (starting status and correlation with the club's results) and availability (volume of matches, adjusted for interruptions). High-impact players with reduced game time are promoted through an alternative efficiency criterion.

Outcome classification

The rating tiers are: Excellent and Good (successful signings — a full point in the index), Fair (intermediate performance — half a point) and Below expectations / Did not deliver (unsuccessful signings). Two categories sit outside the calculation, for distinct reasons: Injury (a serious injury prevented a fair assessment) and Investment (an under-23 player with low game time — the return depends on development and cannot be counted for or against the club in this cycle). Signings that did not reach relevant game time in the season are classified as unsuccessful, reflecting the sporting cost of the decision.

A note on scope

This is SigningLab's public, simplified model, developed for transparent retrospective market assessment. SigningLab's commercial solutions for partner clubs use a substantially larger set of variables and dedicated predictive mechanisms, and are not fully reflected in this document.

Appendix — Signings by club

* Youth investment (under-23, no game time in the season) — outside the hit-rate calculation.

Birmingham (25 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Christoph Klarer43387030Good
Tomoki Iwata45381731Good
James Beadle43315000Fair
Phil Neumann46281730Good
Demarai Gray38229455Good
Patrick Roberts41221244Good
Marvin Ducksch381974101Excellent
Thomas Doyle41192703Fair
Bright Osayi-Samuel37156801Below expectations
Alex Cochrane24154314Fair
Kai Wagner16139903Excellent
Jack Robinson30111911Fair
Jhon Solís18108310Below expectations
Kyogo Furuhashi35101910Fair
Ibrahim Osman1799222Fair
Carlos Vicente1799231Excellent
Ryan Allsop4699000Below expectations
Lewis Koumas2577110Did not deliver
Marc Leonard2569100Fair
Jonathan Panzo1356000Below expectations
Lyndon Dykes2546720Fair
Eiran Joe Cashin2542500Fair
Willum Thor Willumsson1241000Below expectations
Kanya Fujimoto296300Did not deliver
Scott Wright51300Did not deliver

Blackburn (14 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Sean McLoughlin45391100Good
Ryan Alebiosu39319615Fair
Ryoya Morishita38266549Good
Lewis Miller30215522Good
Taylor Gardner-Hickman37198100Below expectations
Moussa Baradji32176420Below expectations
Andri Guðjohnsen25155370Fair
Eiran Joe Cashin19154211Excellent
Mathias Jørgensen21110750Below expectations
Dion De Neve4598901Below expectations
Axel Henriksson2577700Did not deliver
Sidnei Tavares2357701Did not deliver
Oladapo Afolayan1717100Did not deliver
Nathan Redmond54600Did not deliver

Bristol City (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Radek Vítek41369000Excellent
Adam Randell44363932Excellent
Emil Riis45292492Fair
Neto Borges39273803Good
Noah Eile16126110Good
Sam Morsy21117210Fair
Tomi Horvat1687314Fair
Delano Burgzorg1654711Fair
Joe Lumley28000Did not deliver
Sebastian Palmer-Houlden0000Did not deliver

Charlton (28 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Lloyd Jones46395211Excellent
Sonny Carey46341382Fair
Thomas Kaminski41333000Good
Kayne Ramsay38301701Below expectations
Greg Docherty43295313Fair
Conor Coventry45293301Fair
Amari'i Bell35270200Fair
Macaulay Gillesphey46210120Fair
James Bree21167423Good
Charlie Kelman39155071Below expectations
Harry Clarke19153002Fair
Lyndon Dykes20152433Good
Reece Burke2395210Below expectations
Conor Coady1685211Fair
Joe Rankin-Costello4683620Below expectations
William Mannion3881000Good
Isaac Olaofe2570211Did not deliver
Harvey Knibbs3269130Below expectations
Robert Apter2760310Below expectations
Josh Edwards755300Below expectations
Luke Berry3552110Below expectations
Collins Sichenje936700Did not deliver
Matt Godden1131520Fair
Onel Hernández922800Did not deliver
Alex Mitchell2000Did not deliver
Ashley Maynard Brewer8000Did not deliver
Jérôme Roussillon4000Did not deliver
Tiernan Brooks *5000Investment

Coventry (8 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Carl Rushworth46414001Excellent
Luke Woolfenden39107200Fair
Frank Onyeka16102411Good
Romain Esse2075621Fair
Kaine Kesler-Hayden3661921Good
Miguel Ángel Brau2420700Did not deliver
Jahnoah Markelo *85100Investment
Yang Min-hyeok *53700Investment

Derby (16 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Dion Sanderson40317310Fair
Ben Brereton Díaz40306773Fair
Bobby Clark43294633Fair
Patrick Agyemang372760103Good
Lewis Travis28216101Fair
Carlton Morris312129122Excellent
Rhian Brewster29146972Good
Sammie Szmodics13111531Good
Derry Murkin1398403Fair
Max Johnston1597001Below expectations
Andreas Weimann3072613Good
Richard O'Donnell2064100Did not deliver
Danny Batth3462200Fair
Jaydon Banel1557130Fair
Oscar Fraulo2048310Fair
Owen Beck *0000Investment

Hull City (15 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Oliver McBurnie413180187Excellent
Amir Hadžiahmetović40215302Fair
Semi Ajayi30184811Fair
John Lundstram33156210Fair
Paddy McNair2173601Fair
Darko Gyabi2469920Fair
Akin Famewo3469810Below expectations
Lewis Koumas2063730Below expectations
Babajide David Akintola2653412Fair
Enis Destan1946920Fair
Yu Hirakawa1131401Fair
Kieran Dowell2128610Fair
Toby Collyer *711600Investment
Dillon Phillips499500Did not deliver
Brandon Williams61100Did not deliver

Ipswich (11 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Azor Matusiwa45386113Excellent
Darnell Furlong43352513Good
Cédric Kipré44261032Excellent
Marcelino Núñez36216237Excellent
Ivan Azón41181554Fair
Kasey McAteer43126731Below expectations
Anis Mehmeti19102921Fair
Chuba Akpom4190420Fair
Dan Neil1868000Fair
Ashley Young2642800Below expectations
David Button9000Did not deliver

Leicester (7 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Jordan James342127114Good
Asmir Begović4194500Below expectations
Jamaal Lascelles1259300Fair
Julián Carranza2032300Below expectations
Aaron Ramsey1028220Fair
Joe Aribo1313000Did not deliver
Francisco Vieites8000Did not deliver

Middlesbrough (11 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Callum Brittain44380004Good
Matt Targett44355244Excellent
Alan Browne43260443Good
Adilson Malanda23201400Good
David Strelec35200081Below expectations
Alfie Jones22188611Good
Mamadou Kaly Sene3871420Did not deliver
Jeremy Sarmiento1957000Below expectations
Sontje Hansen4152910Fair
Jon McLaughlin26000Did not deliver
Joe Wildsmith18000Did not deliver

Millwall (12 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Caleb Taylor36224932Excellent
Max Crocombe48207000Good
Thierno Ballo43197815Fair
Alfie Doughty29145005Good
Anthony Patterson18144600Good
Steven Benda2081000Did not deliver
Barry Bannan1958201Good
Massimo Luongo956800Below expectations
Will Smallbone1135500Fair
Tom Watson1825300Did not deliver
Zak Lovelace *31100Investment
Joel Coleman6000Did not deliver

Norwich (14 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Vladan Kovačević45405000Good
Harry Darling45301610Good
Pelle Mattsson37272330Good
Ali Ahmed19131043Excellent
Jakov Medić34123601Fair
Mathias Kvistgaarden39115361Fair
Mirko Topić17103700Below expectations
Edmond-Paris Maghoma1582913Fair
Samuel Field1663301Fair
Papa Amadou Diallo1053902Fair
Jeffrey Schlupp1542301Did not deliver
Daniel Grimshaw439001Did not deliver
Harry Amass *11500Investment
Louie Moulden4000Did not deliver

Oxford United (15 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Will Lankshear452892112Below expectations
Brian De Keersmaecker26224715Excellent
Brodie Spencer33215510Fair
Myles Peart-Harris20144631Fair
Nik Prelec29116111Did not deliver
Yunus Konak2089700Below expectations
Filip Krastev2185711Fair
Jamie Donley1382911Below expectations
Ben Davies2265300Fair
Aidomo Emakhu1352700Below expectations
Christ Makosso1746000Below expectations
Jin-woo Jeon1822700Did not deliver
Ruben Roosken517600Did not deliver
Simon Eastwood1000Did not deliver
Rick1000Did not deliver

Portsmouth (18 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Adrian Segecic422279104Good
Conor Chaplin37223723Fair
John Swift42165932Good
Millenic Alli22156312Fair
Ebou Adams18123821Excellent
Josh Knight1597200Did not deliver
Josef Bursik4081400Did not deliver
Ibane Bowat3280720Did not deliver
Gustavo Caballero1376110Did not deliver
Yang Min-hyeok2369131Below expectations
Luke Le Roux4166300Did not deliver
Márk Kosznovszky2165600Did not deliver
Florian Bianchini1951401Did not deliver
Jacob Brown1750511Below expectations
Makenzie Kirk2748110Did not deliver
Madiodio Dia1639300Below expectations
Keshi Anderson724710Fair
Ajibola-Joshua Alese21200Did not deliver

Preston (17 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Daniel Iversen36320301Good
Alfie Devine45313086Excellent
Odeluga Offiah45284900Below expectations
Lewis Dobbin422628108Good
Thierry Small44249532Fair
Daniel Jebbison38202262Below expectations
Pol Valentín38201602Did not deliver
Michael Smith46148031Fair
Andrija Vukčević34130102Below expectations
Harrison Armstrong17113111Fair
Jordan Thompson29103003Fair
Jamal Lewis1760401Did not deliver
Andrew Moran1657811Fair
Jack Walton3927000Below expectations
Callum Lang524302Fair
Miloš Luković *104500Investment
Rick1000Did not deliver

QPR (9 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Richard Kone443331102Fair
Amadou Salif Mbengue43313120Fair
Rhys Norrington-Davies40297710Below expectations
Harvey Vale37217145Good
Rumarn Burrell302001103Fair
Esquerdinha3062301Did not deliver
Ben Hamer3855900Below expectations
Kwame Poku1948800Did not deliver
Kealey Adamson2323700Did not deliver

Sheffield Utd (18 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Japhet Tanganga40355711Good
Patrick Bamford281829121Good
Mark McGuinness38181610Fair
Jaïro Riedewald28149230Fair
Ben Mee18125401Fair
Djibril Soumaré33109000Below expectations
Chiedozie Ogbene1978011Fair
Tahith Chong2869701Below expectations
Danny Ings3262720Fair
Ki-Jana Hoever2157000Fair
Louie Barry1244900Did not deliver
Joe Rothwell1143100Below expectations
Alex Matos1831900Did not deliver
Ben Godfrey431800Did not deliver
Leo Fuhr Hjelde1621400Did not deliver
Kalvin Phillips316100Did not deliver
Nils Zätterström *3000Investment
Jefferson Caceres *0000Investment

Sheffield Wednesday (10 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Harry Amass22186611Fair
Jerry Yates18147640Fair
Omotayo Adaramola16133901Below expectations
Ethan Horvath21126000Below expectations
Liam Cooper1590910Fair
Murphy Mahoney1172000Fair
Seny Dieng327000Below expectations
Joe Lumley218000Did not deliver
Marvelous Nakamba1211300Did not deliver
Nathan Redmond610300Did not deliver

Southampton (12 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Finn Azaz433074107Excellent
Caspar Jander41283321Good
Leo Scienza392501710Excellent
Tom Fellows41226506Good
Daniel Peretz21189000Excellent
Cyle Larin1791381Excellent
Mads Roerslev Rasmussen1047200Did not deliver
Elias Jelert1933401Fair
Damion Downs1327501Did not deliver
George Long15000Did not deliver
Jamie Jones2000Did not deliver
Daouda Traore0000Did not deliver

Stoke City (13 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Sorba Thomas4539281011Excellent
Aaron Cresswell34200803Fair
Tomáš Rigo36171111Fair
Lamine Cissé42168933Below expectations
Divin Mubama30163951Below expectations
Steven​ N'Zonzi38140210Fair
Maksym Talovierov35117100Fair
Róbert Boženík2989210Below expectations
Jesuran Rak-Sakyi1680130Good
Gavin Bazunu654700Below expectations
Milan Smit1752321Fair
Jamie Donley *177801Investment
Frank Fielding13000Did not deliver

Swansea (14 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Cameron Burgess46414000Good
Ethan Galbraith39310831Good
Marko Stamenić38250032Fair
Melker Widell41155101Did not deliver
Zeidane Inoussa26108602Below expectations
Malick Yalcouyé41104812Below expectations
Adam Idah2684962Fair
Gustavo Nunes1755901Fair
Joel Ward2045600Below expectations
Leo Walta1631610Fair
Manuel Benson1214600Did not deliver
Bobby Wales *122200Investment
Ricardo Santos62200Did not deliver
Paul Farman1000Did not deliver

Watford (12 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Marc Bola43290523Fair
Luca Kjerrumgaard46286991Fair
Hector Kyprianou27192701Fair
Othmane Maamma27163841Fair
Nampalys Mendy36153300Below expectations
Saba Goglichidze1392200Did not deliver
Jeremy Petris2289700Below expectations
Vivaldo3675441Fair
Nathan Baxter4558500Fair
Edoardo Bove1429810Below expectations
Pierre Ekwah1128000Below expectations
Formose Mendy1319100Did not deliver

West Brom (11 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Nathaniel Phillips43346330Excellent
Aune Selland Heggebø46316494Fair
George Campbell40309042Good
Chris Mepham29194210Fair
Charlie Taylor39168400Below expectations
Max O'Leary17141600Fair
Samuel Iling Junior26129010Did not deliver
Daniel Imray17112212Excellent
Krystian Bielik2894901Fair
Alfie Gilchrist4067000Below expectations
Toby Collyer1227401Below expectations

Wrexham (33 signings)

PlayerMatchesMinutesGoalsAssistsRating
Max Cleworth46359534Excellent
Dominic Hyam42359000Good
Arthur Okonkwo46342100Good
George Dobson43291722Good
Callum Doyle42287522Good
Kieffer Moore392693114Excellent
Lewis O'Brien43269246Excellent
George Thomason40256924Excellent
Josh Windass422406155Excellent
Issa Kaboré31227208Fair
Matty James37223712Good
Ryan Longman45203921Below expectations
Nathan Broadhead43190274Good
Ben Sheaf28184500Fair
Sam Smith46159082Below expectations
Dan Scarr39136001Fair
Oliver Rathbone31116871Good
James McClean1893202Fair
Liberato Cacace1872700Did not deliver
Danny Ward2071900Fair
Lewis Brunt2155100Did not deliver
Conor Coady1744200Below expectations
Zak Vyner940900Below expectations
Ryan Hardie1618500Did not deliver
Davis Keillor-Dunn169800Did not deliver
Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri *123800Investment
Jay Rodriguez133500Did not deliver
Jacob Mendy2000Did not deliver
Callum Burton26000Did not deliver
George Evans1000Did not deliver
Elliott Lee4000Did not deliver
Thomas O'Connor2000Did not deliver
Eoghan O'Connell3000Did not deliver