USMNT players in the 2024-25 Championship

The 2024-25 Championship season starts this weekend with plenty of USMNT players involved in England’s second tier. We’re going to start our preview with the two teams that came the closest to playing in the Premier League. Daryl Dike’s West Bromwich Albion finished 5th, exiting the playoff semifinals 3-1 on aggregate to eventual winners Southampton. An Achilles injury in February meant Dike only played a few weeks in 2023-24, four league games total after returning from injury.

Dike is expected back by the end of the year, with Southampton looking very close to the squad they fielded last season. That obviously worked well enough to get them to the playoffs, a separation point in a league that brings in three former Premier League teams each season. This time around, that’s Luton Town, Burnley, and Sheffield United replacing Leicester City, Ipswich Town, and Southampton. For clubs that were in the Championship last season, it will take a few rounds before having a better idea of the competitive scope in 2024-25.

Josh Sargent’s Norwich City also exited the playoffs in the semifinal round after finishing 6th in the regular season. They lost 4-0 to Leeds on aggregate. Returning from inury at the end of 2023, Sargent had a strong season, playing in 26 league games and scoring 16 goals. Norwich transferred midfielder Gabriel Sara to Galatasaray and brought in mainly defensive players. Sara played in 46 Championship games last season and scored 13 goals with a dozen assists, meaning this version of Norwich will look different.

Brenden Aaronson is playing for Leeds United this season after spending last season on loan to Union Berlin in the Bundesliga. With Union Berlin, he played in 30 games for a team that finished in 15th-place and avoided the relegation playoff on goal difference. Leeds added defenders Joe Rodon from Spurs and Jayden Bogle from Sheffield United while midfielder Archie Gray (44 league games and three in the playoffs last season) joined Spurs, Glen Kamara (37 games and three in the playoffs) moved to Rennes, and Crysencio Summerville (43 games and three in the playoffs) is now with West Ham.

Auston Trusty’s Sheffield United finished 20th in last year’s Premier League, dropping to the Championship. As with all of the recently relegated teams, the expectations are high for a quick return. Trusty made 32 Premier League appearances last season.

A group of clubs with USMNT players were in the playoff picture last season, with Matthew Hoppe’s Middlesbrough finishing in 8th-place. That was four points behind Norwich City and the final playoff spot. Hoppe finished the 2023 MLS season on loan to San Jose, playing in seven games. He was unavailable to Boro for the remainder of last season.

Fellow USMNT player Aidan Morris joined Middlesbrough in advance of the 2024-25 season from Columbus. Morris played in 16 games with two goals with the Crew this season before his move to Middlesbrough. They also added left wing Delano Burgzorg from Mainz and right back Luke Ayling from Leeds.

Haji Wright joined Coventry City last season, playing in 44 games and scoring 16 goals with seven assists. He became a critical part of the club, scoring goals in big moments. After finishing 5th in 2022-23, they dropped to 9th last season. Coventry has made moves in advance of the new season, including Italian center back Luis Binks.

Duane Holmes’s Preston North End finished 10th last season, with Holmes playing in 35 games with five goals and six assists. They’ve brought in Iceland international midfielder Stefan Teitur Thordarson.

Ethan Horvath’s Cardiff City finished in 12th-place last season, with Horvath joining at the end of the January transfer window and taking over as their #1. That meant 16 games played, keeping four clean sheets in a strong performance with his new club. Cardiff City has made several offseason moves including Aston Villa center back Calum Chambers and Mainz right wing Anwar El Ghazi.

Lynden Gooch played in 29 games for Stoke City last season, with the club finishing 17th. It shouldn’t be surprising that this has led to several changes for the club in advance of the new season. Getting into a better position is the obvious goal, but it’s tough to talk about building blocks over such a lengthy season. Any team figuring out their offense should expect to factor across a Championship season.

Reggie Cannon joined Queens Park Rangers in late September last season, working his way into the lineup and playing 1437 minutes over 21 league games. QPR’s 18th-place finish. QPR has made several moves, attempting to address issues that had them on 56 points with a -11 goal differential last season. Both of those numbers should resonate with the technical staff. Those 56 points were the same as the teams that finished 15th to 17th. All of those teams should be entering this season expecting more.

Photo by Paul Thompson – Imago via ZUMA Press – ISIPhotos.com