The ball starts rolling in the cradle of football. We will have to wait another week for the start of the Premier League, but those who wanted the real island experience, fighter football, old school, are eagerly waiting for the start of the Championship.Some would disagree that in terms of quality and finances it is the sixth championship in Europe, right behind the ‘top five’ leagues. Many, however, see the Portuguese Primeira or the Dutch Eredivisie as better, but there is an undivided opinion that it is the strongest second-tier league in the world, far more attractive than, for example, the German Bundesliga 2, the Italian Serie B and the Spanish Segunda.The value of the players of 24 teams in the second tier of English football is almost 2,000,000,000 euros (estimated by the Transfermarkt), 1,850,000,000 to be exact, twice as much as the elite league of the Netherlands and 600,000,000 more than the championship of Portugal (admittedly, these leagues have 18 clubs each, six less than the Championship).##EDITORS_CHOICE##Unlike previous years when “eternal yo-yo” teams, such as Fulham and Norwich, returned to the league, this time last year’s returnees to the elite rank survived (Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest). The old, traditional clubs on the Island dropped out of the elite, seven years ago the champion of England, Leicester, the former semi-finalist of the Champions League, Leeds, and for many years a stable member of the top society, Southampton.The new Premier League members are Burnley, Sheffield United and debutant in the elite Luton Town. Given that participation in the elite brings benefits even after relegation, last season’s elite members have the starting first three positions in the Championship. The league kicks off tonight (9.45 PM EAT) at the famous Hillsborough, where returnee Sheffield Wednesday will host Southampton.Apart from the Owls, who after the playoffs and the drama in it won their return to the second tier of English football, Ipswich and Plymouth also found places in the Championship. It is interesting to note that Leicester spends 62,634,000 pounds (72,100,000 euros) on player salaries this season, 27 times more than last season’s third-tier club Plymouth – 2,266,000 pounds (2,630,000 euros). Close to the Foxes in terms of spending power are last year’s Premier League champions Southampton (£52,146,000), followed by Leeds, West Bromwich Albion, Norwich…With a weekly salary of £140,000 (€162,500), £7,280,000 (£8,450,000) a year, Leicester striker Jamie Vardy is the highest earner in the league. The veteran has three times more than Plymouth’s complete squad. The most valuable players on the market (estimated by Transfermarkt) are Southampton – 351,700,000 euros, followed by Leicester – 292,500,000, Leeds – 233,400, Norwich, Watford, Hull, West Bromwich Albion. The most ‘modest’ are Sheffield Wednesday – 13,750,000 euros. You can see the complete player salaries and club budgets for the next season HERE.The new Premier League campaign trailer and the first trophy of the season for the takingBetween two seasons, seven clubs changed their coach. Frenchman Valerien Ismael arrived at the helm of Watford instead of Chris Wilder. The former Bayern stopper knows this league. Two years ago, he led Barnsley into the playoffs, and he had an unsuccessful episode at West Bromwich Albion.Turkish Erol Bulut replaced Frenchman Sabri Lamouchi on Cardiff’s bench, Scotsman Russell Martin is the new coach of Southampton instead of Spaniard Ruben Seles. German Daniel Farke sat on the red-hot Leeds bench, where the veteran Sam Allerdyce was at the end of last season. The former assistant of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, the Italian Enzo Maresca will try to propel Leicester back to the Premier League. He replaces Dean Smith, while Michael Duff replaces Scotsman Russell Martin at the helm of Swansea. Jamaican Darren Moore did not survive at the bench of Sheffield Wednesday despite returning the Owls to the second tier of the competition – their new coach is the Spaniard Xisko Munoz.The biggest name to arrive in the Championship this summer is Welshman Aaron Ramsey, who returned home to Cardiff City after more than a decade at Arsenal, modest spells at Juventus and unsuccessful spells at Glasgow Rangers and Nice in France. The former Gunner has settled in the Welsh capital and will be the Bluebirds’ main asset in their bid to return to the elite.FIRST ECHELON OF FAVORITES – LAST YEAR’S PREMIER LEAGUE MEMBERSFrom the title and fairytale under the command of Claudio Ranieri in 2016, winning the FA Cup in 2021, the last nightmare season under the leadership of Brendan Rodgers and later Dean Smith resulted in the relegation of the Foxes. The goal is the return of the team from King Power to the highest rank.Enzo Maresca was assigned the role of rescuer. He learned the trade from the best, Pep Guardiola, and now as a debutant he will try to return Leicester to the paths of old glory. As much as 90,000,000 euros were earned from the sale of two of the best football players. James Maddison went to Tottenham for 46,300,000 and Harvey Barnes to Newcastle for 44,000,000. The Belgian Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa) and the Turkish Çağlar Soyuncu (Atletico Madrid) left the club as free agents, as well as Daniel Amartey, who joined Beşiktaş.The biggest reinforcements are Harry Winks from Tottenham, paid 11,600,000, Conor Coady from Wolverhampton (8,700,000), Stephy Mavididi from Montpellier (7,500,000) and Mads Hermansen from Brondby (7,000,000 euros).Leicester’s stalwart of the previous decade, Jamie Vardy is still there, as is former Salzburg goal-machine Zambian Patson Daka. There are also Kelechi Iheanacho, Denis Pratt, Timothy Castagne, Jannik Vestergaard, experienced players whom the Foxes should return to where they belong – in the Premier League.Kompany’s Burnley secure promotion to the Premier LeagueLeeds waited a long time to return to the elite, they lasted two seasons, and last year, despite big investments, they had to return to the Championship. Liverpool, United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal will not play at Elland Road, at least for a year. The biggest change is to the bench. Daniel Farke arrived at the helm, a German who knows how to enter the Premier League. He did that with Norwich twice. He did not make a name for himself in Krasnodar and Borussia Monchengladbach, and now he has returned to the place of success, the Island.There were no major changes to the Yorkshire team. Young stopper Ethan Ampadu from Chelsea was paid the most – 8,100,000, while goalkeeper Karl Darlow came as a free agent from Newcastle. Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin), Robin Koch (Eintracht), Rasmus Christensen (Roma), Marco Rocca (Betis), Rodrigo (Al Rayyan) left the club last season. The expensive Colombian Luis Sinisterra is injured and will not be available for the start of the season. Patrick Bamford, Wilfred Gnonto, Georginio Rutter, Jack Harrison, Junior Firpo are still with the Peacocks.The young Scottish expert Russell Martin (37) will try to bring the Saints back to the elite. He managed Swansea last season. The biggest reinforcement came from Manchester City. Midfielder Shea Charles was paid 12,250,000 euros to Citizens. Croat Mislav Oršić did not do good on the Island, so after only six months after his arrival from Dinamo Zagreb, he left Southampton and moved to Turkey, to Trabzon. The biggest sale is to Mohammed Salisu who went to Monaco for 15,000,000. Another Croat is no longer a resident of St. Mary’s – Duje Ćaleta Car, who transferred to Lyon for 1,540,000. A lot is expected from the Nigerian Paul Onuachu who was a goal machine in the Belgian Genk. The leaders in the upcoming season should be captain Ward-Prowse, Carlos Alcaraz, Kameldeen Sulemana, Kyle Walker-Peters, Nathan Tella, Che Adams, Pole Jan Bednarek, Liyanko…SECOND ECHELON, THE BATTLE AT LEAST FOR THE PLAY-OFFS – NORWICH, WATFORD, MIDDLEBROUGH, SUNDERLAND, HULL…In the green and yellow jersey of Norwich, we will not see more of Finn Teemu Pukki, who moved “across the pond” to the ranks of Minnesota. American David Wagner took over the Canaries last year, but he failed to lead them to the playoffs. The team was reinforced with Christian Fassnacht (Young Boys, 3,000,000), Borja Sainz (Giresun), Jack Stacey (Bournemouth), Shane Duffy (Fulham), Ashley Barnes (Burnley). Modest reinforcements, not much has been spent this summer at Carrow Road.Apart from Pukki, Kieran Dowell left for Rangers and Bali Mumba for Plymouth. Albanian Milot Rašica was not bought by Galatasaray despite a good season in the Turkish champion. He is back in Norwich and alongside the American Josh Sargent should be the Canaries’ striker. A place in the play-offs is the minimum the ever-faithful Norwich crowd is hoping for.Watford are weaker than last season. João Pedro was sold to Brighton for 34,200,000 euros, and Marseille bought Ismaila Sarr for 13,000,000. The Hornets did not spend almost anything on reinforcements, mostly free players came – Jamal Lewis, Rhys Healey, Giorgi Chakvetadze, Tom Ince, James Livermore… Frenchman Valerian Ismael will have a difficult task to survive at Vicarage Road. It is known that Watford leaders change coaches like socks.Premier League football at Kenilworth Road! Luton write history via penalties at Coventry’s expense!Middlesbrough continuously fail to return to the elite. Former Manchester United ace Michael Carrick raised spirits at the Riverside by arriving at the end of October last year. He reached the semi-finals of the play-offs, but Coventry were better. Now they will have another chance. There were not many changes in the team, the only important purchase is goalkeeper Seny Dieng from QPR for 2,300,000 euros. The biggest reinforcement is the stay of last season’s king of the Championship, former PAOK striker Chuba Akpom.The Spaniard Carlos Corberan almost brought Huddersfield into the elite two seasons ago, but fell on the last step (defeat at Wembley against Nottingham Forest in the final). After a short spell at Olympiakos, he arrived at West Bromwich Albion at the end of October. He was given a five-year contract, following interest from Leeds. The young Spaniard will have almost the same team as in the last championship season. Two newcomers have arrived, Jeremy Sarmiento on loan from Brighton and forward Josh Maja from Bordeaux. The handicap is the departure of defensive pillar Dara O’Shea to Burnley for €7,800,000. The American Darryl Dyke has many problems with injuries and has not justified the trust. Maja, a newcomer from France, should be the first option in attack.Sunderland had a great comeback season in the Championship. Bellingham arrived at the Stadium of Light, but not the Real Madrid star, but his younger brother Jobe from Birmingham for 1,750,000 euros. Jenson Seelt came from PSV for 2,000,000. Striker Ross Stewart is currently injured.Hull’s attack this season will be led by the Colombian Oscar Estupinyan. There are also two famous Turkish internationals, Ozan Tufan and Dogukan Sinik. Liam Delap arrived on loan from Manchester City, while Ruben Vinagre arrived as a free agent from Sporting Lisbon. Aaron Connolly of Brighton was the only one paid 1,350,000 euros. Little-known Xavier Simmons came from Chelsea.RAMSEY IS BACK HOME, BLACKBURN WITHOUT BRERETON DIAZ, COVENTRY WITHOUT GYOKERES, TROY DEENEY LEFT BIRMINGHAMTurkish Erot Bulut will try to stabilize Cardiff, which in recent seasons was closer to League 1 than to the fight for the Premier League. Much is expected of Aaron Ramsey, although the Welshman’s career is in freefall and the question is whether he can get the Bluebirds going. The middle of the table is more realistic than the fight for the Premier League.”No one likes us, we don’t care” is the famous chant that echoes through the Den Stadium, home of Millwall, one of the two London clubs in the league. In the past championship, the boys from Peckham, a once infamous neighborhood in the capital, today a meeting place for artists and musicians, were on the threshold of the playoffs, but Blackburn made life miserable for the Lions in the final round. Millwall have one of the more modest budgets in the league. The team’s best scorer is the Dutchman Zian Flemming, who has been linked with Lazio in recent days, so the striker could leave the Den. Gary Rowett will sit for the fifth season on the bench of Millwall, who are again attacking the upper part of the table.Blackburn were a candidate for the play-offs for most of last season, but in the finish the team from Ewood Park fell. The Dane Jon Dahl Thomasson remained at the helm, and a big handicap is the departure of the best player and scorer, the Chilean Ben Brereton Diaz. He signed for Villarreal as a free agent. Goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski joined Luton and Bradley Duck went to the north to sign for Sunderland. The reinforcements are from Scandinavia, Icelander Arnir Sigurdsson from CSKA Moscow and Norwegian Sonder Tromnstad from Vitesse.Michael Duff will manage Swansea in place of Scot Martin. Jerry Yates arrived from Blackpool for 2,800,000 euros, while the biggest sale was Michael Obafemi, who joined Kompany’s Burnley for 4,000,000 euros.Coventry were left without the best scorer, the Swede of Hungarian origin, Viktor Gyokeres, who joined Sporting Lisbon for as much as 20,000,000 euros. Last season, Coventry played in the play-off final (defeat against Luton at Wembley), and now it will be difficult to repeat that result. The money from the Swede was used to buy Ellis Sims from Everton (7,000,000), Milan van Ewijk from Heerenveen (4,300,000), Bobby Thomas from Burnley (2,300,000) and the Japanese Tatsuhiro Sakamoto from Oostende (2,250,000). Experienced Mark Robbins will lead the team from Yorkshire for a seventh season.We never saw this coming! The greatest-ever quarterback ditches American football for the English gameTroy Deeney is no longer a member of Birmingham City. The veteran is without a club, and in the blue jersey of the club he supports, he has not made a name for himself in the last two seasons. He was not even a pale shadow of that striker from Watford. Birmingham are expected to fight for survival.A few days ago, Stoke City bought the former striker of the Hungarian champion Ferencvaros, Ryan Mmaee, for 4,000,000 euros. Legendary expert Neil Warnock, at the age of 75, will lead Huddersfield, whom he saved from relegation last season in the finish. The popular Terriers will have to bite to stay in the league. Midfielder Etienne Kamara left for Udinese for 2,000,000 euros.A Schumacher is at the wheel Plymouth. The young 39-year-old Steven led his team to the Championship in his second season on the bench. How much in Plymouth they trust Steven Schumacher is shown in the long-term contract he has until 2027. Compensations of around one million euros were paid for Bali Mumba from Norwich and Morgan Whittaker from Swansea. The new member of the second tier of the competition has the smallest budget in the league and only has survival on their mind.Ipswich paid €3,500,000 for Jack Taylor from Peterborough and George Hirst from Leicester (both €1,750,000), while talented midfielder Omari Hutchinson arrived on loan from Chelsea. The young specialist Miran McKenna will try to keep the Tractor boys in this level of competition.The system has not changed for years on the Island. After 46 rounds, the two best teams will play in the Premier League, the teams from third to sixth position will win the participation in the semi-finals of the playoffs. After the two legs, the final will be played at Wembley at the end of May. Three clubs are relegated from the league. Goal difference is the first criterion if the teams have the same number of points.EFL CHAMPIONSHIPMatchday 1Friday22:00: (2.90) Sheffield W. (3.30) Southampton (2.45)Saturday17:00: (1.95) Watford (3.50) QPR (3.90)17:00: (2.80) Blackburn (3.15) WBA (2.65)17:00: (2.10) Bristol City (3.35) Preston (3.60)17:00: (2.00) Middlesbrough (3.45) Millwall (3.80)17:00: (1.75) Norwich (3.60) Hull (4.90)17:00 (2.30) Plymouth (3.40) Huddersfield (3.10)17:00 (1.70) Stoke (3.60) Rotherham (5.30)17:00: (1.95) Swansea (3.50) Birmingham (3.90)Sunday14:00: (1.55) Leicester (4.10) Coventry (6.25)16:30: (1.40) Leeds (4.60) Cardiff (8.00)19:00: (2.55) Sunderland (3.35) Ipswich (2.75)***odds are subject to change***LAST SEASON FINAL STANDINGS
