Every Championship club's record transfer sale - and how they fared

The Championship season is approaching the final furlong with only the play-offs left to be decided.

Whilst Luton, Huddersfield, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United are all still in action, the rest of the division have already set their sights on next season. Many clubs have already released their retained lists and the next step is to bring in new signings over the summer. Of course, further departures are likely - but will any of the exits bring in record fees?

Here, we run the rule over all 24 clubs in the second tier and look at their respective record sales (according to industry website Transfermarkt) - and see what they are up to nowadays.

Barnsley

Ashley Ward left the Reds in December 1998 fo4 £4.5m, moving across the Pennines to Blackburn Rovers.

He would go on to spend two years at Ewood Park but never really pulled up any trees. He then moved to Bradford and Sheffield United before retiring in 2005.

He now manages a luxury property development company and he and his wife Dawn appear on the ITV reality show Real Housewives of Cheshire.

Birmingham

Jude Bellingham is Birmingham's club record sale, after the midfielder left for Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2020.

Bellingham was just 17 when the Germans forked out a fee of £22.5m. Birmingham famously made the decision to retire his number 22 shirt upon his departure - despite him only playing one season for the Blues.

Still only 18, the midfielder is among the hottest talents in Europe and already has 12 England caps.

Blackburn

Rovers' record sale came back in the summer of 2003 when Chelsea forked out £22m to sign winger Damien Duff.

"It was a tough decision because I didn't really want to leave Blackburn," Duff admitted at the time. He would go on to win two Premier League titles with the Blues before later moving to Newcastle, Fulham then stints in Australia and his native Ireland.

He is now manager of Shelbourne having previously held youth coaching and first team assistant roles.

Blackpool

Charlie Adam became a cult hero at Blackpool, helping them reach the Premier League in 2010.

He was sold to Liverpool in the summer of 2011 for a fee of £7.5m. The success that he enjoyed at Bloomfield Road could not be replicated on Merseyside but he found his feet again at Stoke where he spent seven years.

A brief spell at Reading followed before moving back to Scotland with Dundee, who have just been relegated from the top flight.

Bournemouth

Relegation from the Premier League in 2020 saw Bournemouth cash in on a number of players. Nathan Ake was one of them, with the Dutch defender sold to Manchester City for a mammoth £40m.

He has not been a regular for City but this season he has featured 14 times in the Premier League.

Bristol City

Adam Webster was sold to Brighton and Hove Albion for a huge sum of £20m back in 2019. The centre-half excelled for City and earned a Premier League move and has since become a regular for Graham Potter's side.

Cardiff

City's record departure came in the summer of 2014 when they sold defender Steven Caulker to QPR for a fee of £9.6m.

Caulker has gone on to enjoy a nomadic career, with spells at Southampton, Liverpool (both loans) and Dundee before moving to play out in Turkey.

He featured in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, representing Sierra Leone after switching allegiances from England, for whom he had scored one goal in his only previous appearance back in 2012.

Coventry

Robbie Keane's shock move from Coventry to Inter Milan remains the Sky Blues' biggest transfer departure.

Ireland forward Keane was only 20 when the Italian giants forked out £17.5m in July 2000. Keane would go on to play just six games in Serie A however, and a move back to England to Leeds (originally on loan) soon followed.

He would then go on to enjoy a long stint with Spurs before a brief stay at Liverpool, the club he grew up supporting.

He spent five years at LA Galaxy before retiring after a spell in India. He remains Ireland's most-capped player and highest-ever scorer.

Derby

Matej Vydra has the rare feat of being the Rams' most expensive signing and departure. He arrived for a club-record fee of £8.46m from Watford in 2016 before being sold to Burnley for £10.98m two years later.

He is still with the Clarets, and is aiming to help them stay in the Premier League this season.

Fulham

Ryan Sessegnon pulled in Fulham's highest transfer fee when they sold him to Tottenham for £24.3m in 2019.

Now 21, he is back in the first team plans at Spurs after being loaned out to German club Hoffenheim last season.

Huddersfield

Karlan Grant and Phillip Billing both commanded fees of £14.85m upon their departures from Huddersfield.

Grant left for West Brom in October 2020, signing a six-year deal with the Baggies. Billing had departed in July 2019, moving to Bournemouth who he has just helped win promotion back to the Premier League.

Hull

Jarrod Bowen has gone from strength to strength since departing for West Ham for a fee of £19.1m back in January 2020.

He has become a key part of the Hammers' side which secured European football last season and has played a big part in them reaching the semi-finals of the Europa League. He has hit 16 goals this term and is in contention for an England call-up ahead of the Qatar World Cup later this year.

Luton

James Justin is Luton's record sale, having left for Leicester in the summer of 2019 for a fee of £6m.

He is now fully back in the Foxes' fold after spending almost a year out injured.

Which player on this list proved the biggest bargain? Let us know in the comments

Middlesbrough

Boro's sale of Adama Traore saw them handed £18m by Wolves in August 2018.

The jet-heeled winger impressed in the Championship and would go on to star in the top flight before a loan move back to Barcelona, the club where he began his career, earlier this season. There is an option the deal could be made permanent in the summer.

Millwall

George Saville has the unusual feat of being Millwall's record sale - yet still plays for the club.

The Lions sold Saville to Middlesbrough for £7.02m but after two years he was back at Millwall, for a much smaller fee than they sold him for.

Nottingham Forest

Britt Assombalonga's move to Middlesbrough in 2017 was a club-record signing for Boro and a club record sale for Forest.

The Teessiders forked out £15.3m for the striker, who would spend four seasons at the Riverside before leaving on a free last summer. He is now at Turkish club Adana Demirspor.

Peterborough

Assombalonga is also Peterborough's record sale, having left Posh for £6.21m in the deal which took him to Forest in August 2014.

He proved a goal machine for both Peterborough and Forest, leading to his eventual big-money move to Boro.

Preston North End

Jordan Hugill's £9.1m move to West Ham in January 2018 just did not work out for the forward. He played just three times for the Hammers, being loaned out twice before being sold to Norwich. He has also struggled for game time with the Canaries and this season has spent time at both West Brom and Cardiff scoring just three times in 25 Championship games.

QPR

Eberechi Eze brought Rangers in a fee of £16m when they sold him to London rivals Crystal Palace in August 2020.

Some dazzling displays earned him that move. He is getting back to his best after a long lay-off with Achilles tendon trouble.

Reading

Michael Olise was another who joined Palace, with the midfielder earning Reading a record transfer income of £8.37m.

He has impressed in his first Premier League season, making 31 appearances for Patrick Vieira's side.

Sheffield United

The Blades sold goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale to Arsenal at the start of this season, bringing in £25.2m.

He has gone on to make the number one jersey his own and is a good bet to be part of the England squad for the World Cup later this year.

Stoke

The Potters' record sale is when Marko Arnautovic was sold to West Ham for £20m in 2017. The Austrian dazzled for the Hammers but made a surprise move to China in July 2019 before moving to Bologna at the start of this season.

Swansea

Gylfi Sigurdsson's move to Everton in August 2017 earned the Swans a mammoth fee of £44.4m.

The Iceland international has made 136 appearances for the Toffees.

West Brom

Salomon Rondon's move from the Hawthorns to Chinese side Dalian Yifang brought in a fee of £16.4m for the Baggies.

He was loaned out to Russian side CSKA Moscow before moving back to England, signing for Everton at the start of this season.