The new Championship season is upon us this weekend and it promises the thrills and spills we have come to expect from such a competitive division.
It has long been an excellent proving ground for young talent at Premier League clubs, whose careers come on in leaps and bounds from a Championship loan spell.
Manchester United‘s James Garner and Liverpool duo Neco Williams and Nathaniel Phillips all played a part in promotion-winning campaigns last season at Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth respectively.
James Garner (left), on loan from Manchester United, helped Nottingham Forest win promotion last season, while Liverpool’s Neco Williams (right) shone at Fulham
And once again, the Championship clubs have raided top-flight academies to offer young talents the opportunity to play more regularly and show what they can do.
We take a look at 10 players hoping to light up the second tier having been borrowed from leading clubs.
Alvaro Fernandez (Manchester United to Preston North End)
It is a sign of how highly Spanish left-back Fernandez is rated at Old Trafford that he extended his contract with Manchester United until 2024 before being let out on loan to Deepdale.
United saw off competition from Barcelona and Manchester City to sign Fernandez from Real Madrid’s academy two years ago and the 19-year-old has proved his worth.
He was named United’s Player of the Year at Under-23 level last season and was an unused substitute in their final four Premier League fixtures of the season under Ralf Rangnick.
Fernandez will now be immersed in the rigours of senior football at Championship level, with Preston manager Ryan Lowe describing him as a ‘fantastic asset’ who ‘will be a fantastic football player for Manchester United.’
Manchester United’s Alvaro Fernandez in action during an under-19 UEFA Youth League game
The Spanish left-back has signed on loan at Preston North End for the season ahead
Tino Anjorin (Chelsea to Huddersfield Town)
Chelsea are never short of players to send out on loan and 20-year-old Anjorin has decided to make a return to familiar surroundings.
The versatile midfielder, 20, is due at Huddersfield Town for a second spell after the Terriers lost out to Nottingham Forest in the Championship play-off final last season.
Anjorin will be hoping to make more of an impact than his first stint having seen only 132 minutes of Championship action.
He arrived in Yorkshire having just come back from a…