The 2025-26 Championship season starts on August 8, with eight USMNT players on the books of seven Championship clubs. As it stands with the transfer window still open, only the Bundesliga has more USMNT players.
England’s second tier has 24 clubs and a deserved reputation for physical play that turns the season into a lengthy endurance test. What the Championship also has is playoffs, with the clubs finishing 3rd through 6th competing against each other for the final promotion spot. As expected, the Championship relegates the bottom three teams to League One. With the stakes set, here’s a look at each of the clubs with USMNT players at the start of the 2025-26 season.
Coventry City – Haji Wright
It was close for Coventry City last season, finishing 5th and exiting the playoffs to Sunderland in the semifinal round. Haji Wright led the team in goals, scoring a dozen times last season. Nothing changes the pressure on Wright to perform, the only Norwich player to finish with double-digit goals in 2024-25. It’s worth the reminder that Coventry’s 5th-place finish last season was three points better than 8th-place Millwall, highlighting how close the Championship can be. It’s also worth remembering that 4th-place Sunderland finished seven points ahead of Coventry. That it was Sunderland winning promotion should be all the evidence Coventry needs that they’re very close to the goal of all Championship teams. Underlining that is keeping most of last season’s squad together.
Derby County – Patrick Agyemang
Patrick Agyemang left Charlotte FC after impressing for the USMNT in the Gold Cup and now faces another new scenario and a test of his game. Watching him over the Gold Cup schedule should underline why Derby County made the transfer. Agyemang’s positional play should work in the Championship, a league where a player who can create space for himself and expects to pick up the ball under pressure should thrive. Agyemang had six goals with Charlotte before joining the USMNT for the Gold Cup and ten across 31 league appearances last season. He’s joined a Derby County squad that finished 19th last season, putting up 48 goals with a -8 differential. The challenge for Agyemang is the same for any newly-arrived forward, showing he can clinically finish chances at Championship level.
Middlesbrough – Aidan Morris
Aidan Morris made 35 appearances in his first season at Middlesbrough, finishing 10th and tied on 66 points with 9th-place Millwall. Those 64 points were four less than what qualified Bristol City for the playoffs in 6th-place, unnecessary reminders for both the level of difficulty and those thin margins that seem to highlight every Championship season. Under new manager Rob Edwards, Middlesbrough has spent to bring in two defenders (center back Alfie Jones from Jull City and Callum Brittain from Blackburn) and a defensive midfielder (Abdoulaye Kante from Troyes). With three players finishing last season with double-digit goals led by forward Tommy Conway with 13, that’s the kind of squad building that should make a difference this season.
Norwich City – Josh Sargent
Josh Sargent was strongly linked with moves away from Norwich City during the summer window, but for now remains with the club. That speaks heavily about his level of skill, with those potential moves to topflight teams. Sargent is a difference-maker with enough Championship experience to put him in the highest tier of attacking players. Another display of that skill should have him once again a transfer target when the January window opens. As for Norwich City, finishing 13th last season was an obvious disappointment. The club has made a lot of moves since last season, including the hiring of new manager Liam Manning. The goal is obvious, with Norwich a club that can argue it belongs a league up.
Southampton – Damion Downs
Leaving FC Koln after a promotion-winning season in Germany, Damion Downs joins a club looking to go right back up to the Premier League. Southampton had its issues last season, relegated in 20th-place on 12 points. Under new manager Will Still, this season is about showing that they belong in the group of clubs fighting for the two automatic promotion spots. Two seasons ago, Southampton finished 4th in the Championship and won the promotion playoff. That (insert ridiculous amount of money here) that pundits so enjoy talking about every season. There are two more obvious ways to get from the Championship to the Premier League, and finishing 1st or 2nd will undoubtedly provide its own drama without the added risk vs reward of the promotion playoffs.
Watford – Caleb Wiley
A Chelsea player after joining that club from Atlanta during the summer 2024 transfer window, Caleb Wiley played six games on loan to Strasbourg last season before his loan move to Watford on February 3. He played in ten games for Watford last season. Staying on loan to Watford for 2025-26 and with a new coach Paulo Pezzolona, Downs now has an understanding of what it takes to get results in the Championship. That experience last season includes the four-game losing streak over the last five games of 2024-25 that moved Watford from 8th in the table to ultimately finishing 14th.
West Bromwich Albion – Daryl Dike and George Campbell
The Championship squad with two USMNT players, Daryl Dike with injury limiting him to 11 games last season, and new signing center back George Campbell. We already know that West Brom finished 9th in 2024-25, tied on points with 10th-place Middlesbrough. That finish doesn’t tell the broader story for a club that was in fifth place in round 39, losing five of their final eight games. This was a club that was in 1st-place in September before back-to-back losses and then a run of six consecutive draws, a win, and then four more draws in a row. That’s ten draws over 11 games, a run that still had them in the top six when it ended with a win on December 11. Under new manager Ryan Mason, and bringing in center back Nat Phillips from Liverpool, forward Aune Heggebo from Brann, and Campbell from Montreal, the main issue for West Brom is turning draws into wins. Figuring that out turns them from a competitive team into a promotion contender.
