This season, League One is full of quality. Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, Stockport County to name just a few, all vying for promotion to the Championship.
Given how competitive the league is, it is natural that some players will simply be too good for this level and will display the talent befitting of someone who is capable of making the step up. Here are some of those players.
Davis Keillor-Dunn
The transfer window has only just closed and yet Davis Keillor-Dunn is already being linked with a January move to the Championship. Able to play in several positions in the attack, Keillor-Dunn has picked up exactly where he left off last season, scoring five goals in Barnsley’s eight league games so far.
This has caught the attention of several clubs in the second tier including Birmingham City and Sheffield United. Given his aforementioned impressive performances last season, where he provided twenty-six goal contributions in all competitions, combined with his strong start to this season, the twenty-seven-year-old certainly looks to be too good for this level.
Will he leave Barnsley midway through the season if they are still in the hunt for promotion? We will have to wait and see.
Yousef Salech
So far, Yousef Salech has been a fantastic signing for Cardiff. The towering centre forward signed for the Bluebirds in January as they fought to survive the drop from the Championship.
Unfortunately for them, they were unable to pull this off, but the Dane would score nine goals and provide one assist in twenty Championship appearances. There was a lot of speculation over the players future during the most recent transfer window as the twenty-three-year-old was linked with a number of Championship sides.
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He would ultimately stay with the Welsh club, helping them make a great start to life in the third tier. They currently sit in fourth place, three points behind leaders Bradford, with a game in hand.
Individually, Salech has started well scoring two goals and providing one assist in Cardiff’s eight league games so far. It seems like only a matter of time until Salech is playing Championship football once again.
Lewis Wing
Reading have been through a lot in the last few years. But even through all of the off field distractions, there are players who have really stood out.
One of those players was Harvey Knibbs who joined Charlton during the summer following two fantastic seasons with the Royals. Another one of Reading’s best players over the last few years is newly appointed captain Lewis Wing.
This is the midfielders third season at the Select Car Leasing Stadium and despite Reading’s underperformance so far, Wing already has two goals and two assists in eight league games. Last season he managed nineteen goal contributions in all competitions and twenty-three the season before.
Wing joined Reading off the back of a great season with Wycombe Wanderers during which he got fourteen goal contributions. So, given his consistently strong performances in League One over several years, I think it is very likely that the thirty-year-old could make the step up to the Championship.
Bali Mumba
Following their relegation to League One, Plymouth Argyle sold many of their best players with Maksym Taloverov, Adam Randell and Ryan Hardie all departing Home Park. But Bali Mumba has stuck around.
Mumba joined the Pilgrims on loan from Norwich for the 2022/23 season and it was an incredibly successful move for player and club. He would score six goals and provide seven assists in forty-one league games as Argyle went on to win League One with 101 points, even finishing ahead of an Ipswich side who would be promoted to the Premier League the season after.
Mumba would also win the League One Young Player of the Year award for his performances during the campaign. A highly versatile player, Mumba could do a job for many a Championship side and at only twenty-three years of age, he is only going to get better.
Chris Willock
When Cardiff City were relegated from the Championship last season, the lack of interest in Chris Willock was surprising considering that he is definitely one of their better players and has played in the Championship for many years previously. In fairness, Willock hasn’t been at his best over the last few seasons.
Once one of QPR’s standout names, at the end of the 2023/24 season, Willock’s contract expired, and he joined Cardiff on a free transfer. Judging by his start to this season, the twenty-seven-year-old seems to be turning things around, scoring two goals and providing two assists in six league games so far.
If he continues to play as well as he is at the moment, he will surely be playing Championship football once again next season, whether that is with Cardiff or another team.
