Clubs up and down the Championship are now returning for pre-season, with training beginning and preparations for the new season ramping up. We still have a month or so until the start of the new campaign, but players will be building their fitness over the course of the coming weeks, with Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday having friendlies aplenty lined up between them.
In the meantime, Chris WIlder and Danny Rohl will be working hard on new arrivals, with both teams needing to strengthen their new squads, while the Owls have already made a strong start in that department. In the meantime, we have rounded up all the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding the rest of the Championship clubs.
Gray deal verdict
Bartley pens new deal
West Brom have struck an agreement with veteran star Kyle Bartley to keep him at the club for another year amid his expiring contract. According to Birmingham World, the new deal includes a clause that will extend the deal by another year if he plays a certain amount of games.
Bartley has said: “I’ve been at the Albion for six years and I really enjoy being here. We had a really good season last year and I really believe we can build on that under the manager this term. The gaffer has trusted me to play the majority of matches since he joined the club and that’s something I’m really grateful for. I’m determined to keep performing at my highest possible level and I’m confident I can do that in the coming campaign. I’ve really enjoyed playing alongside some of the other defenders we’ve had here during my time at the club. I’ve seen so many of them flourish and I’d like to play a part in seeing that happen once again with some of the younger lads we’ve got in the squad at the moment.”
Philogene available
Hull City owner Acun Ilicali has said he will not stand in Jadon Phologene’s way if he wants to leave this summer amid links with a big move abroad. “Everything is true,” Ilicali told TALKSport. “Of course, if you ask me, I told my fans that I would sell nobody. My idea in football is not to make money, my idea is to make a strong and bigger club.
“But to make a bigger club, sometimes if a player says I want to go, that’s a different case. For me, if one player changes, it’s not the end of the road. But if any of my players, I will never want to ruin their career or their mood because by pushing them because there is a contract. If Jaden wants to move and says he wants to go somewhere, this is something we cannot do too much because this is his life. I love all of my boys. For me, their life and career, I am responsible too. If they don’t want to play with us, they don’t want to play with us.”
