Tottenham, Villa to fight for signing amid shock Euro interest: Champ sextet set for summer transfers | OneFootball

Jack Clarke, Jonathan Rowe and Callum O'Hare.

The Championship Spotlight is on players who *should* be set for summer transfers after missing out in January, with Tottenham and Aston Villa likely to battle for Norwich City’s star man.

Jack Clarke (Sunderland) Interested clubs in January: Burnley, Crystal Palace, Lazio and West Ham.

The 23-year-old’s damaging previous spell at Tottenham is now far behind him as his form for Sunderland over the past 18 months has set him up for a return to the big time.

Clarke and Amad Diallo were sensational as Sunderland mounted a surprise play-off push last season. And without the Man Utd youngster this season, his former team-mate has stepped up and been an even more integral figure.

With 13 goals and three assists in his 29 Championship appearances, seventh-placed Sunderland would not be in such a strong position if it wasn’t for Clarke.

And with new head coach Michael Beale needing to deliver a second consecutive top-six finish in the Championship, he would have breathed a sigh of relief upon realising Clarke is sticking around until the summer.

This did not always look like it was going to be the case, though. It was always going to be tough for Premier League sides to meet Sunderland’s £20m+ asking price amid their ongoing Financial Fair Play issues but Burnley, Crystal Palace and West Ham were among the interested clubs.

While a pricey Premier League transfer was unlikely, Serie A side Lazio (much more on them later) swooped to pull off a shock signing but failed to finalise a deal after having a £14m bid rejected. This development would have pleased several Premier League sides, who are bound to snap up Clarke in the summer if Sunderland miss out on promotion.

Post-takeover optimism was rife at Birmingham City at the start of this season but this evaporated after the club’s new American owners made the biggest cock-up of the season in replacing John Eustace with Wayne Rooney.

Their third manager of the season – Tony Mowbray – is a steady pair of hands who is unsurprisingly reducing the severity of their crisis with the Blues now seven points clear of the relegation zone.

After emerging as a pre-season dark horse for promotion, it is disheartening that Birmingham would now like this campaign to be over and done with. While their progress was dramatically halted by Rooney, the increased budget provided by their new owners means they *should* soon be back heading in the right direction.

But they are likely to do that without James, who came close to joining Serie A side Atalanta in January. The reported Palace and Wolves target has been a shining light for Birmingham with six goals in 26 appearances.

A star in the making, the 19-year-old is expected to follow in Adam Wharton’s footsteps in joining a Premier League club for a rather large fee later this year.

Viktor Johansson (Rotherham United) Interested club in January: Sheffield United.

As F365’s resident Rotherham supporter, I have pretty rapidly fallen out of love with football this season as the South Yorkshire side spiral en route to an inevitable relegation to League One.

Rotherham United faithful were pleased as punch when the club broke their yo-yo last season and that success was largely thanks to their Swedish international between the sticks.

Had they not had Johansson, the Millers would have gone down last season and the table would make for even more unpleasant reading this term without his sensational presence.

Being a Rotherham United goalkeeper in the second tier is often a thankless task, but Johansson has single-handedly kept his side in countless games over the past 18 months and is now rightly regarded as one of the best shot-stoppers in the league.

Planning with relegation an inevitability, the Millers would have perhaps been wise to cash in on Johansson in January before his value declines ahead of his contract expiry in 2025.

Linked with Sheffield United, Johansson will surely move on in the summer and this writer will be very sad when it happens.

Jonathan Rowe (Norwich City) Interested clubs in January: Aston Villa, Lazio, Tottenham and Wolves.

When searching for this season’s breakout performer in the Championship, you do not have to look further than Rowe, who has broken onto the scene in immense style.

The 20-year-old has joined fellow wingers Clarke and Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville in lighting up the Championship with his remarkable tally of 17 goal involvements in 31 appearances across all competitions.

Rowe has been quick to catch the attention of Premier League clubs and he also made it onto Lazio’s Championship-heavy January transfer shortlist.

The dazzling winger is already on Tottenham’s radar and he will have the pick of whoever he wants to join in the summer with Aston Villa and Wolves also keen.

Regarding who will win the race to land him, Tottenham are suddenly a more attractive club than Barcelona so it presumably has to be them.

Callum O’Hare (Coventry City) Interested clubs in January: Burnley, Leicester City and Southampton.

After suffering a hangover from last season’s play-off final heartache, Coventry City are one of the in-form sides in the Championship as they have rocketed up the table to gatecrash the top-six places.

Like Luton Town, Coventry overachieved last season to challenge for promotion and this feat becomes even more impressive when you consider Mark Robins’ side did all that with one of their best players out injured since Boxing Day.

O’Hare – who was targeted by Burnley during the 2022 summer transfer window – missed all of last season’s run-in and did not make his first-team return until October.

Thankfully for Coventry, their talented central midfielder has quickly returned to his best and has six goals in his last 17 appearances.

Even without Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer, Coventry will be hoping to go one better this season and if they don’t, they face the prospect of another heart-breaking farewell in the summer with O’Hare being monitored by promotion chasers Leicester City and Southampton in January and back on the radar of Burnley.

Morgan Whittaker (Plymouth Argyle) Interested clubs in January: Brentford, Fulham and Lazio.

Another player reported to be on Lazio’s transfer list in January, Whittaker has been loving life at newly-promoted Plymouth Argyle this season.

Plymouth took a punt in the summer when they invested £1m to sign Whittaker from Swansea City and the same fee for Bali Mumba from Norwich City.

This could have easily backfired but both players have lived up to their respective price tags to enable Plymouth to sprint towards Championship safety.

Whittaker has been a sensation for Plymouth with 15 goals and six assists in the Championship and they will have to enjoy the 23-year-old while they can before the Brentford and Fulham target’s expected move to the Premier League in the summer.

Plymouth’s £1m risk to sign Whittaker will pay off tenfold as they will be compensated for their sad farewell by making a significant profit on their prized asset later this year.

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