A BREAKDOWN of the top six Championship squads shows Luton have punched well above their weight this season, ahead of the play-offs
Nathan Jones’ side confirmed their place in the play-offs after beating Reading 1-0 thanks to Orjan Nyland’s howler at Kenilworth Road.
Fulham and Bournemouth outspent the play-off teams considerably
Manager Nathan Jones has Luton punching above their weight Credit: Getty
Rhian Brewster is Sheffield United’s record signing at £23.5million Credit: PA Luton finished sixth despite spending just £3.5million on their squad according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire – some £230m less than champions Fulham.
Remarkably, the Hatters also spent £142m less than Stoke yet finished eight places higher than Michael O’Neill’s team.
Their budget would suggest Luton are underdogs for the play-offs but in Huddersfield they have a semi-final opponent who have also performed well on a relative shoestring.
The Terriers finished third and have arguably gone under the radar in recent weeks amid talk of Nottingham Forest achieving automatic promotion – Steve Cooper’s side instead finished fourth.
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Tottenham vs Arsenal – offer: Get Spurs at 40/1, or Gunners at 50/1 to win Yet Huddersfield have lost just two of their last 26 league games and have won four on the bounce.
Carlos Corberan built his team mainly using the loan market and free transfers.
The highest fee they have spent on a player is £700,000 on Pipa, according to Football Transfers – quite a contrast to Sheffield United splashing £43.5m on Oli McBurnie and Rhian Brewster alone.
The Blades have reportedly spent an eye-watering £114m assembling their squad – benefitting from two years in the Premier League as well as parachute payments.
Jordan Rhodes was one of several free agent signings for Huddersfield last summer Credit: Getty
Nottingham Forest’s £37m squad is still considerably less expensive than what Sheffield United have spent Credit: Ritchie Sumpter/News Images .css-qu9fel{border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}.css-b9nmbi{margin-bottom:16px;border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}
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In fact, Sheffield United have spent more than double the other three clubs combined, with Forest splashing out £31m on their in-form team.
Only four players have arrived at the City Ground for fees this season with Braian Ojeda’s reported £2.1m price tag the highest amount spent on one player.
The fact that is almost as much as Luton’s entire budget shows how big an achievement it would be for them to reach the Premier League.
Luton have spent within their means since promotion from the National League in 2014, with high profile sales of the likes of Andre Gray and James Justin funding their rise up the EFL.
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF FIXTURES Friday May 13 – Luton v Huddersfield (7.45pm)
Saturday May 14 – Sheff Utd v Nottm Forest (3pm)
Monday May 16 – Huddersfield v Luton (7.45pm)
Tuesday May 17 – Nottm Forest v Sheff Utd (7.45pm)
Final – Sunday May 29 (Wembley, 4.30pm)
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
