Rivals waste no time in signing stars

TRANSFER WINDOW IN FULL SWING

- By DOMINICK HOWSON

There is just over five weeks to go until the new Championship season gets under way. Second tier clubs have started to ramp up their transfer business.

Although Hull City are now operating under a three window transfer fee restriction, the Tigers have already added Reda Laalaoui, Dillon Phillips and Semi Ajayi their ranks.

Free agent Jonjo Shelvey is currently training with the club and City are in talks with Belgium club Westerlo over a loan deal for Croatian forward Matija Frigan.

The Tigers visit Coventry City for their league opener on August 9. Sky Blues boss Frank Lampard has brought two fresh faces to his squad in his first major recruitment drive at the CBS Arena, with Kaine Kelser-Hayden being the most recent addition last week, joining for a fee north of £3.5m from Aston Villa, reports Coventry Live.

Since then, however, Coventry's fellow Championship clubs have been busy, including Midlands rivals Birmingham City and Stoke - the latter seeing former manager Mark Robins continue to revamp his inherited group at the bet365 stadium.

Let's take a look at the deals that have been sealed in the past few days.

Birmingham City

Birmingham's ambitious recruitment drive has continued unabated with the signing of ex-Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi from French top-tier side Rennes for an undisclosed fee.

The Blues have secured the Japan international on a three-year contract following their promotion to the Championship as League One champions.

Furuhashi netted 85 goals in 165 appearances during his stint at Celtic and was the Scottish Premiership’s top scorer in the 2022-23 season with 27 goals.

He moved to Rennes in January for £10m but is back in Britain just six months later with Chris Davies’ newly-promoted side, despite strong rumours linking him with a return to Celtic.