We’ve seen a number of players make a very successful step-up the Premier League from the Championship. Patrick Bamford (Leeds), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), and Said Benrahma (West Brom), in particular, have proven they can perform at the highest level this season.
Here is a look at who we believe are the best three players outside of the Premier League in England.
Max Aarons
One of the most consistent players in the Championship this season has been Norwich fullback Max Aarons. The 20-year-old has a huge future ahead of him and looks set to return to the Premier League in the near future.
The Canaries were relegated from the top-flight last season but at the time of writing, they sit top of the standings. Daniel Farke’s side are as short as –225 in the Championship betting to gain promotion at their first attempt back in the division.
With the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, and Kieran Tripper, England are not lacking talented defenders on the right side of their back line. It may not be long before Aarons is challenging those players for that position in Gareth Southgate’s team.
Michael Olise
Reading’s Michael Olise tops the assist charts so far this season in the Championship with seven. He is also in good form in front of goal, as he showed when scoring in his side’s 1-0 victory over QPR earlier this month.
The 19-year-old is being linked with a move to the likes of Liverpool and Leeds in January, which says a lot about his form in the campaign. He has been at Reading since 2016 but only made his senior debut last year. His contract with the Royals runs out in June 2022 so the club will be keen to sign him up to a new deal.
Olise is a playmaker who is not short of confidence. If he continues to develop as a player, he could be one of the future stars of the Premier League. Reading fans will be hoping he can lead them back to the top-flight at the end of the season.
Ivan Toney
Ivan Toney made a move from Peterborough to Brentford last summer for a fee of £5 million, rising to £10 million with add-ons. The early signs suggest that it is a fantastic piece of business for the West London club.
Toney has already scored 16 goals in the Championship this season, and his hot form is ensuring the Bees are in the hunt for an automatic promotion slot.
After Watkins and Benrahma left the club earlier this year, there were big shoes to fill at Brentford. Toney has done a great job of following their lead and is on course to be the top scorer in the division this season.
Toney has expressed his desire to play in the Premier League and he feels he has a good chance of taking Brentford there for the first time in their history.
All three of the above players look to have exactly what it takes to compete in the top-flight in England. It is going to be exciting to see how they perform against some of the best players in the world when they get the chance to.
