Championship transfer window: Six signings to watch in 2026-27 season including £5m World Cup star

The 2026-27 Championship season will get underway this week, with 24 teams starting the campaign with hopes of achieving their respective goals.

Some will be targeting automatic promotion, several clubs will be aiming for the newly expanded playoffs, and others will just be hoping to steer clear of the bottom three.

There have been plenty of exciting additions across the league who will also be targeting a strong campaign for their new team.

Here, Sports Mole picks out six permanent signings to keep an eye on in the upcoming Championship campaign.

Elijah Just (Swansea City)

Motherwell sold Just to Swansea in a club-record fee for the Scottish club, with reports suggesting that the amount was around the £5m mark.

Just impressed with seven goals and seven assists in 43 Scottish Premiership appearances in the 2025-26 season, earning him the prize of Motherwell's Player of the Year.

He then showcased his talent on the biggest stage, scoring three goals in New Zealand's brief World Cup campaign.

Swansea can look back at his performance against Iran as a sample of what they can look forward to, as he linked up neatly with teammates and showed a calm head in front of goal to net twice in a 2-2 draw.

Vitor Matos will certainly appreciate Just's versatility as an attacker who plays as a number 10, on either flank and even as a centre-forward.

Just will also contribute in the defensive side of the game, especially with a focus on winning the ball back via interceptions.

Will Lankshear (Middlesbrough)

Lankshear joined Spurs from Sheffield United in 2022 before making his debut two years later in the Europa League.

The striker was eventually sent out on loan to West Bromwich Albion in January, but it proved to be a difficult time as he failed to score in 11 appearances.

However, that tough experience ultimately proved to be a learning curve because he showcased his true potential in last season's loan spell at Oxford United, netting 11 league goals for a team that was ultimately relegated and finished as the fourth-lowest scorers.

After demonstrating his eye for goal for a team at the bottom end of the table, Lankshear now has the opportunity to show he can score regularly and important goals for a club that is targeting automatic promotion after signing for Middlesbrough in a £10m deal this summer.

The ex-Tottenham man has already settled any nerves by scoring the winner on his debut in the EFL Cup against Wrexham, and while the likes of Tommy Conway and David Strelec will push him for a starting spot, he will view the season as a chance to make a name for himself as one of England's best young strikers.

Ugo Raghouber (Burnley)

Welcome to Burnley, Ugo ? pic.twitter.com/dUDdj1QK7C
— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) July 28, 2026

Raghouber joined Burnley from French side Lille earlier this summer for a reported €5m (£4.3m) fee.

The 23-year-old has the potential to be a key player in Burnley's bid to secure an immediate return to the Premier League.

Raghouber arrives after spending the second half of last season playing in La Liga for Levante, where he made 16 appearances in a high-pressure relegation battle that saw the Granotes survive the drop on head-to-head record.

The defensive midfielder was not a regular starter in Spain, but that should change in his first season with the Clarets, especially as Florentino Luis has departed the club.

Burnley will benefit from Raghouber's strengths out of possession, his ability to win the ball back by making vital tackles or interceptions.

He is also comfortable keeping the ball circulating when his team is in possession, although he will rely on his passing to progress the ball rather than carrying the ball forward.

Andrei Coubis (Lincoln City)

4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/GNQNyud9rm
— Lincoln City FC ?? (@LincolnCity_FC) July 30, 2026

This pick is something of a curveball, purely because Coubis is making a significant step up by joining a Championship club, even if he started his career in the youth setup with five-time European champions AC Milan.

Coubis left without ever featuring for the five-time European champions and then experienced a similar fate during his brief time with Sampdoria.

The 22-year-old finally breathed life into his senior career during a loan stint with Universitatea Cluj in the second half of last season, helping the Romanian side finish second in the league in his 15 league appearances.

Coubis joined Lincoln in a club-record deal worth up to £2.6m, but not before making an appearance in Universitatea Cluj's Europa League qualifying tie against Dynamo Kyiv.

With a strong passing range, the Romania international is the epitome of a modern-day centre-back, although he may need time to adjust to his new surroundings in the Championship.

The adaptation process will be made tougher by the expectation that Lincoln will be battling to stay in the second tier.

Rafiki Said (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Strengthening the pack ? pic.twitter.com/H3HH4kLcQ4
— Wolves (@Wolves) July 11, 2026

Recently relegated Wolves recruited Said in a £7.7m deal from Belgian side Standard Liege.

The right-footed attacker usually plays off the left and possesses the dribbling ability to get fans off their seats, something he showed by ranking seventh for the most successful dribbles per 90 minutes in the Belgian top-flight last term.

The Comoros international finished the campaign with eight goals and four assists in 37 league outings, so Wolves fans can expect him to chip in with goals as well as being a creative outlet.

There is every chance he will register more assists this term, considering he will be providing opportunities to a clinical goalscorer in Raul Jimenez.

However, Wolves supporters face a waiting game to see Said's attacking talent, with the wide man expected to be out for up to two months after suffering a knee injury in pre-season.

Rocco Shein (Portsmouth)

Shein was not shy in admitting his Premier League aspirations when he completed a £2.1m move from Norwegian side Fredrikstad earlier this summer.

The midfielder has filled the void created by Andre Dozzell's exit and offered a glimpse of his undoubted potential in Pompey's EFL Cup defeat to West Ham United.

Composed in the middle of the park, he always looked to create a passing option for his teammates and orchestrated several of Pompey's attacks, a performance that made him the standout player in the club's new yellow away shirt at the London Stadium.

He lacked the same assurance out of possession, but he will improve that side of the game as he adapts to the physical demands of Championship football.