EFL stars: Viktor Gyokeres, Chuba Akpom, Jack Clarke
There's no shortage of talent in the Sky Bet EFL. Michael Beardmore turns the spotlight on five players who could either make the step up or star in the EFL in 2023/24.
Viktor Gyokeres
- Club: Coventry City
- Position: Striker
- Contract ends: June 2024
From the moment Fankaty Dabo blazed his sudden-death penalty over the bar in May’s Sky Bet Championship final, it has always seemed a case of ‘when’ not ‘if’ Viktor Gyokeres would leave Coventry.
The Sweden striker has plundered 41 goals in 97 games across the past two seasons for the Sky Blues – but he’s not only a goalscorer, he’s an intelligent forward capable of creating chances for his team-mates too.
Gyokeres not only finished as the Championship’s second highest scorer last season with 21 goals, he also provided 12 assists, the joint highest in the division alongside Sunderland’s Jack Clarke.
He either scored or assisted 57% of Coventry’s league goals last term – had Mark Robins’ men been promoted, they might have had a chance of holding on to their prized asset.
But with the 25-year-old out of contract in a year’s time, the vultures are circling with a host of Premier League sides – such as West Ham, Fulham, Wolves, Brentford, Burnley and Everton – rumoured to be fighting Sporting Lisbon for his signature.
Chuba Akpom
- Club: Middlesbrough
- Position: Striker
- Contract ends: June 2024
Middlesbrough face the same dilemma with their goal machine as Coventry do with theirs – the Championship’s 28-goal top scorer in 2022-23, Chuba Akpom, is out of contract next summer.
From all reports, however, Akpom is not agitating for a move quite as much as Gyokeres – plus, at 27, he’s a couple of years older and also has the potential ‘one-season wonder’ tag to dispel.
Prior to last season, Akpom’s highest league goal return was 11 in the Greek top flight for PAOK – a tally he more than doubled for Boro in a fantastic campaign. He scored more league goals last season than in the rest of his career combined. But can he do it again?
Taking an expensive punt on him to keep banging in the goals at a level above would be a risk for any Premier League club – considering he could be available for a free next summer if he does continue doing the business.
Jack Clarke
- Club: Sunderland
- Position: Winger, attacking midfielder
- Contract ends: June 2026
Few second-tier players had more productive seasons in 2022-23 than Jack Clarke, who enjoyed the definition of a break-out campaign with play-off semi-finalists Sunderland.
Clarke was snapped up by Tottenham from Leeds United at the age of only 18 in 2019 but was never really given a chance at Spurs and excelled in his first real full season as a first-team regular at the Stadium of Light.
His nine goals and 12 assists were a huge reason why Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland threatened back-to-back promotions.
Like Akpom, he needs to back that productivity up again but, at 22, he has youth on his side – although a contract that has three years left to run means Sunderland can negotiate hard-ball with Premier League clubs showing interest in him.
Alex Scott
- Club: Bristol City
- Position: Central midfielder
- Contract ends: June 2025
Teenager Scott has already been pegged as a future England international by Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson after becoming a rock for the Robins at the tender age of 19.
No teenager played more Sky Bet Championship games than the midfielder last season as he racked up 42 league appearances for the Ashton Gate club – after amassing an impressive 38 the campaign before.
His performances have led City to place a £25m valuation on the Guernsey-born England Under-20 international, who was named the Championship’s young player of the year last term.
Champions League runners-up Inter Milan and Europa Conference League winners West Ham are among the high-profile sides linked with a move for a player who seems destined to play at the top level after already excelling as a midfield fulcrum despite his young years.
Mads Andersen
- DONE DEAL: Barnsley - Luton
- Position: Central defender
- Contract ends: June 2024
It’s not been a great few weeks for Barnsley – not only did they lose the Sky Bet League One play-off final to Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday, they subsequently lost boss Michael Duff to Swansea.
Captain Mads Andersen has now followed his gaffer out of the club by heading for Premier League new boys Luton Town.
After a shaky start, the Dane has been a model of consistency for the Tykes during his four years at Oakwell.
The 25-year-old ranked in the top 10 defenders in League One for both interceptions and aerial battles won last term, proving his worth as an all-round defender both in the air and on the ground.
He’s already excelled at a higher level too – in 2019-20, his first season with Barnsley, Andersen averaged the most interceptions per game, 2.7, of any Championship player, and was in the top 20 aerially.
The following season, 2020-21, he topped both the defensive aerial supremacy and interception stats and was in the top 15 and top five respectively in both metrics in 2021-22 too.