While January is often touted as a tough time to conduct transfer business, this was the first winter window for English clubs since June’s updated work permit (GBE) rules widened the potential international recruitment market.

Yet, just 17% of Championship signings were from non-British leagues outside the top two bands in the GBE criteria. This is despite our Player Model showing that there are nearly 1,000 players currently playing outside these leagues who are under 27, good enough, and affordable enough to perform in the Championship.

 And this is not limited to the Championship, with League One and League Two clubs also having enormous pools to recruit from to fill their ‘Elite Significant Contribution’ (ESC) player places (below).

As clubs throughout the EFL continue to strive for sporting success and financial sustainability, widening the parameters of their recruitment search in forthcoming windows would deliver significant value.