The 10 Championship players with the most goals & assists in 2023-24: Summerville, Szmodics…
Leeds United stars dominate the Championship’s top 10 players when it comes to goals and assists in 2023-24, while standout individuals from Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town also feature.
The full list of the second tier’s most dangerous players features an interesting mix of high-profile, big-money superstars alongside lesser-known names that are punching well above their weight with exceptional returns.
We’ve broken down the top 10 players for goals and assists in the Championship this season.
=10. Conor Chaplin – 19 (12 goals, 7 assists)
Surprisingly enough, Chaplin is the only representative in this list from high-flying, promotion-chasing upstarts Ipswich Town.
Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys are enjoying one of the all-time great seasons from any newly-promoted side at any level, anywhere. In almost any other season, they’d have practically wrapped up a second successive promotion by now.
Ipswich have lost the fewest games, boast an outstanding tally of 81 points from 39 games, and are comfortably the Championship’s top-scoring side with 80 goals. Players throughout McKenna’s squad contribute in terms of goals and assists and it’s all about the collective.
Chaplin is arguably the closest thing to a star player and is among the first names on Ipswich’s teamsheet – rewarding his manager’s faith with 12 goals and seven assists this season.
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=10. Dan James – 19 (12 goals, 7 assists)
It looked like James was just never going to work out at Elland Road. Leeds eventually got their man in 2021, two and a half years after a move from Swansea broke down. He struggled to convince, often playing as a striker, for an injury-ravaged side in Marcelo Bielsa’s final season and was subsequently loaned out for a forgettable stint at Fulham.
The step back down to the Championship appears to have done the Wales international the world of good. He’s already reached his best-ever tally for both goals and assists, having come on immeasurably when it comes to his finishing and decision-making in the final third.
Following a brief spell on the sidelines through injury, James has recently found his spot in Leeds’ starting XI taken by Wilfried Gnonto. But he continues to come up with the goods off the bench.
=10. Haji Wright – 19 (13 goals, 6 assists)
Called up by the USMNT for his first international cap since 2022 after his headline-making heroics in Coventry’s stunning FA Cup quarter-final victory over Wolves, Wright has been similarly impressive in their league campaign.
The Sky Blues took some time to refind form after losing the exceptional Viktor Gyokeres, but now they’re back and pushing for the play-offs and the big Swede’s replacements (Wright and Ellis Simms) are a major reason why.
=10. Jack Clarke – 19 (15 goals, 4 assists)
Last season the former Leeds and Tottenham winger established himself as one of the Championship’s very best players – and he hasn’t let up in 2023-24.
The Black Cats have been disappointing this season but Clarke just seems to get better and better. It’s no surprise their nosedive in form has coincided with his spell on the sidelines.
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=6. Gabriel Sara – 21 (10 goals, 11 assists)
Norwich City’s Brazilian attacking midfielder has a real claim to be the best player in the Championship outside of the three relegated sides.
Sara was named the Canaries’ Player of the Season last term and he’s a shoo-in to retain the individual award. He’s been particularly on fire of late, fuelling their play-off push with three assists and five goals in his last nine outings.
=6. Georginio Rutter – 21 (15 assists, 6 goals)
Leeds United’s record signing has had a whale of a time down in the Championship this season. Rutter’s tally of 15 assists betters any player in Europe’s five major leagues this season, while only Notts County’s Jodi Jones (22) has notched more in the top four tiers of English football.
Successive managers scratched their heads at how to utilise the 21-year-old Frenchman when he arrived for a £36million fee amid Leeds’ relegation battle last January. He barely got a sniff under Sam Allardyce as their fate was miserably confirmed last term.
But under Daniel Farke and a consistent run of games, Rutter’s shown exactly why the club invested so heavily in his signature.
He’s an absolute nightmare for opposition defences, while he could and probably should have more than just six goals. If he can improve on his finishing, Leeds might just have an out-and-out world-beater on their hands.
5. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 22 (10 goals, 12 assists)
Leicester have a superb squad and were on track to break all kinds of Championship records before their recent dip in form.
The closest thing they’ve got to a proper superstar is their homegrown playmaker Dewsbury-Hall, one of only three players in the division to hit double figures for both goals and assists.
The Foxes are facing off-field issues and rumours of impending points deduction. Don’t be surprised if Dewsbury-Hall moves on in the summer, promotion or not, because he’s by some distance their most lucrative asset.
4. Crysencio Summerville – 23 (15 goals, 8 assists)
The third Leeds player in the top 10, Summerville has probably been the standout player of their outrageously stacked attack this season.
Farke’s forwards have contributed a combined total of 59 goals and 35 assists in 2023-24, but none can match Summerville’s tally of 23 direct goal contributions.
The 22-year-old looks destined to be playing in the Premier League next term, with or without Leeds, and can genuinely consider himself unfortunate to miss out on the Netherlands’ Euro 2024 squad.
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3. Sammie Szmodics – 24 (21 goals, 3 assists)
Blackburn surprisingly find themselves right in the mix of the Championship’s wide-open relegation battle, and given their tough run-in they face a nail-biting few weeks ahead.
But they’ll back themselves to make it to safety, given they boast a goalscorer some of their rivals can only dream of. Republic of Ireland international Szmodics is the Championship’s top scorer this season with 21 goals.
2. Morgan Whittaker – 25 (18 goals, 7 assists)
A point and a place behind Blackburn, Plymouth are also in the mix to go down. That’s after a stellar first half of the campaign and with one of the Championship’s rising stars – having helped them go up while on loan last season, Argyle signed Whittaker from Swansea City for a club-record £1million fee last summer.
If and when the time comes to sell the 23-year-old, you imagine they’ll make at least 10 times their investment, and in January they turned down a bid from Serie A giants Lazio.
“You’ve just got to look and think ‘these clubs are in for you, it’s amazing, just use that to kick on and keep playing with confidence and don’t let it stress you out’,” Whittaker told BBC Radio Devon.
“Obviously it’s a lot because your name’s in the headlines, but when a team like that comes in you’ve just got to use it as a positive and just show how far you’ve come.”
1. Adam Armstrong – 29 (18 goals, 11 assists)
The Newcastle academy graduate had proven himself an immense player at Championship level during his final season at Blackburn Rovers, in which he scored 28 goals in 2020-21.
That prompted Southampton to give the striker a well-earned step-up to the Premier League, where he struggled to match the same kind of form, notching just four goals in 53 top-flight appearances for Saints. Armstrong might well belong in that too-good-for-the-Championship-not-good-enough-for-the-Premier-League zone (Robert Earnshaw and Dwight Gayle say hello).
Whatever about that, he’s proving himself a real asset for where Southampton currently find themselves. His tally of 18 goals and 11 assists – averaging a direct contribution every 103 minutes – is comfortably the best of any player in the second tier.
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