Championship transfer news latest: £3m Leeds exit, Swansea eye Brighton deal, Millwall name Flemming price, Stoke agree £1.25m signing | OneFootball

With the transfer window officially well underway in the Championship, speculation and rumours over the future of players in the second tier is only bound to increase.

Pre-season has begun for most second tier teams, with many managers now looking to form their squads ahead of the opening weekend of the season on August 4th.

It has already been a busy summer in that regard, especially when it comes to the Championship, in part due to the size of the teams coming down from the Premier League and up from League One.

With all three newly-promoted sides surviving in the Premier League, it was Southampton, Leeds United, and Leicester City who suffered the drop into the second tier - three clubs with plenty of talented players that are already the subject of much speculation and not likely to be playing Championship football next season.

The division is expected to be more competitive than ever, with a host of clubs in the hunt for top-flight football by the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

As ever, excitement is building ahead of the new season, with Southampton's opening game against Sheffield Wednesday kicking off the new campaign in just three weeks, on Friday 4th August.

Leeds' top scorer last season has joined Qatar Stars League side Al-Rayyan Sports Club in a permanent transfer.

The deal to take the Spanish international to the Qatari side is worth a reported £3 million, according to Phil Hay.

The 32-year-old was into the final year of his deal at Elland Road and scored 28 goals and collected a further five assists from 97 games for the Whites.

Swansea City's Carl Rushworth interest

Swansea are interested in signing Rushworth on loan from Brighton as they look to strengthen their goalkeeping department this summer.

TEAMtalk has revealed that Swansea are keen on Rushworth, as new boss Michael Duff looks to bring in a new keeper this summer to compete with Andy Fisher and Steven Benda, who is out injured at the moment.

The 22-year-old joined the Seagulls as a teenager, initially joining up with the development sides. Since then, he has had to go out on loan for senior football in recent years, with Rushworth spending the 2021/22 campaign with Walsall and the most recent season with Lincoln City.

Milwall's Zian Flemming price tag

Millwall have reportedly set an asking price of €15 million (£12.8m) for in-demand attacker Zian Fleming amid interest from Lazio, Sevilla, Roma, and Burnley.

Dutch outlet Ze Telegraaf has reported that European trio Lazio, Sevilla, and Roma all hold an interest in the 24-year-old, but Millwall are currently standing firm.

Burnley have also had bids knocked back for Flemming, with the highest the Clarets have gone so far around €10 million (£8.5m) plus add-ons. Flemming scored 15 goals and notched a further three assists, but his immediate future remains unclear.

Matija Sarkic to move to Stoke permanently?

Stoke are said to have agreed a fee with Wolverhampton Wanderers to sign goalkeeper Matija Sarkic permanently.

As per John Percy of The Telegraph, an initial fee of £1.25 million has been agreed, although the deal is also said to include other bonuses and a sell-on clause, too.

Stoke City supporters will be familiar with Sarkic, with the goalkeeper having spent the second half of the 2022/23 campaign on loan with the Potters, but injury restricted him to just eight appearances.