If you’re looking for a project on Football Manager 2018, it’s worth taking a look in the Championship for the club you plan to take to the very top.

Of course, one of the most important aspects of the game is being able to buy and sell players, but you can only do that if you have a big transfer kitty available or you’re happy spending time scouting for the best bargains.

In the Championship, there isn’t as much money knocking about as there is in the Premier League, so it’s a much harder challenge to take on.

But which clubs have the most money available in the Championship? Well, we’ve done that research for you.

Read on to learn what the transfer and wage budgets are at every Championship club on FM18…

Aston Villa

Minimum transfer budget: £1m

Maximum transfer budget: £1.5m

Minimum wage budget: £940k

Maximum wage budget: £1.2m

Barnsley

Minimum transfer budget: £2m

Maximum transfer budget: £2.6m

Minimum wage budget: £115k

Maximum wage budget: £130k

Birmingham City

Minimum transfer budget: £1m

Maximum transfer budget: £1.3m

Minimum wage budget: £355k

Maximum wage budget: £400k

Bolton Wanderers

Minimum transfer budget: £10k

Maximum transfer budget: £10k

Minimum wage budget: £200k

Maximum wage budget: £225k

Brentford

Minimum transfer budget: £500k

Maximum transfer budget: £700k

Minimum wage budget: £210k

Maximum wage budget: £250k

Bristol City

Minimum transfer budget: £500k

Maximum transfer budget: £700k

Minimum wage budget: £245k

Maximum wage budget: £280k

Burton Albion

Minimum transfer budget: £300k

Maximum transfer budget: £360k

Minimum wage budget: £100k

Maximum wage budget: £110k

Cardiff City

Minimum transfer budget: £1.2m

Maximum transfer budget: £1.6m

Minimum wage budget: £350k

Maximum wage budget: £410k

Derby County

Minimum transfer budget: £5m

Maximum transfer budget: £6.6m

Minimum wage budget: £570k

Maximum wage budget: £650k

Fulham

Minimum transfer budget: £5m

Maximum transfer budget: £7.2m

Minimum wage budget: £310k

Maximum wage budget: £370k

Hull City

Minimum transfer budget: £17m

Maximum transfer budget: £24m

Minimum wage budget: £450k

Maximum wage budget: £540k

Ipswich Town

Minimum transfer budget: £250k

Maximum transfer budget: £350k

Minimum wage budget: £230k

Maximum wage budget: £260k

Leeds United

Minimum transfer budget: £5m

Maximum transfer budget: £6.4m

Minimum wage budget: £320k

Maximum wage budget: £360k

Middlesbrough

Minimum transfer budget: £5m

Maximum transfer budget: £6.6m

Minimum wage budget: £650k

Maximum wage budget: £800k

Millwall

Minimum transfer budget: £500k

Maximum transfer budget: £660k

Minimum wage budget: £125k

Maximum wage budget: £140k

Norwich City

Minimum transfer budget: £3m

Maximum transfer budget: £4.1m

Minimum wage budget: £565k

Maximum wage budget: £670k

Nottingham Forest

Minimum transfer budget: £500k

Maximum transfer budget: £700k

Minimum wage budget: £320k

Maximum wage budget: £320k

Preston North End

Minimum transfer budget: £2m

Maximum transfer budget: £2.7m

Minimum wage budget: £200k

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Maximum wage budget: £210k

Queens Park Rangers

Minimum transfer budget: £500k

Maximum transfer budget: £750k

Minimum wage budget: £360k

Maximum wage budget: £450k

Reading

Minimum transfer budget: £6m

Maximum transfer budget: £7.6m

Minimum wage budget: £490k

Maximum wage budget: £540k

Sheffield United

Minimum transfer budget: £3m

Maximum transfer budget: £4.4m

Minimum wage budget: £205k

Maximum wage budget: £260k

Sheffield Wednesday

Minimum transfer budget: £1m

Maximum transfer budget: £1.4m

Minimum wage budget: £535k

Maximum wage budget: £640k

Sunderland

Minimum transfer budget: £12m

Maximum transfer budget: £16m

Minimum wage budget: £730k

Maximum wage budget: £850k

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Minimum transfer budget: £5m

Maximum transfer budget: £8m

Minimum wage budget: £480k

Maximum wage budget: £600k

According to reports by Goal Cyprus last month, Leeds United are interested in signing PAOK striker Aleksandar Prijovic before the January transfer window slams shut at the end of the month.

The Yorkshire outfit are still looking for a long-term replacement for Chris Wood with Pierre-Michel Lasogga only on loan from Hamburg and struggling to make a significant impact, although Goal Cyprus says they could have to pay Prijovic’s €10m (approximately £8.8m) release clause if they want to bring the Swiss-born centre-forward to Elland Road.

However, Sportske reported last week that the Greek outfit may be willing to accept an offer of €4.5m (approximately £4m) for the 27-year-old, boosting the Whites’ chances of adding the Serbia international to their squad as they look to challenge for promotion from the Championship this term.

Meanwhile, Southampton have endured a disappointing season under Mauricio Pellegrino and are only above the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference, and having sold Virgil van Dijk in a £75m deal they are likely to look to boost their attacking options before January 31.

A hamstring injury to Charlie Austin is a real cause for concern for the south coast outfit right now with Pellegrino admitting on Thursday that he has no other striker with the same profile as the 28-year-old in his squad, and therefore bringing Prijovic to St Mary’s this month could prove to be a shrewd move.

Here are three reasons Southampton must hijack Leeds’ bid to sign the attacker…

His qualities

Southampton enjoyed their biggest success in the Premier League in recent years when they had a tall, strong target man up top, and it is something they have been missing ever since Graziano Pelle left for China in 2016.

Signing Prijovic would certainly sort that issue out, and the 6ft 3in striker is impressive in the air, can hold the ball up and has proven that he can be a prolific goalscorer as well.

The 27-year-old has netted 12 goals in 21 appearances in all competitions for PAOK so far this season, and he has 22 in 41 games for them in total following a move from Legia Warsaw.

He could rejuvenate Tadic

In the 2014/15 and 2015/16 campaigns Dusan Tadic was one of Southampton’s key players after producing assist after assist, but the same can’t be said in more recent times.

The Serbia international has only scored three goals and provided a further three assists in his last 31 Premier League appearances for Saints with the team struggling for goals again this season, and perhaps reuniting him with his international teammate could help to reignite the 29-year-old playmaker and produce a similar;y successful relationship to the one he had with Pelle previously.

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Price tag

Even though Southampton are guaranteed to receive £70m as part of the deal that took van Dijk to Liverpool this month, The Times reports that the sum will be paid in instalments and that they are only guaranteed to get £17m now.

It means that the south coast outfit could be looking for more modestly priced players than some fans would have expected, and whether he costs £8.8m as per his reported release clause or £4m, Prijovic would certainly be an interesting addition to the Saints squad.

Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.

Michail Antonio, Marko Arnautovic and Andre Ayew all have something in common and it’s not just that they’re all West Ham players. This season, all three have played in forward roles, despite being mainly thought of as wingers or wide attackers. In Ayew’s case, something of a creative number 10 at times.

Meanwhile, the three out-and-out strikers at the club have all been linked with moves away from the club this January. Andy Carroll has been linked with a move to Chelsea, Javier Hernandez with Besiktas and even Manchester United, and Diafra Sakho to other struggling Premier League sides who could be doing with a striker. That clearly tells you something, though it’s unclear exactly what.

Obviously, if all of the rumours are true, it shows that David Moyes is happy to let each of them go – though perhaps not all three in the same window – but given we’re talking about strikers of differing types, it’s hard to know exactly what that means.

Selling Carroll might hint at a desire to play a faster game in attack. Or it could be a chance to offloading an injury-prone striker and getting money in return. Selling Hernandez would seem to suggest that Moyes wants a striker with a bit more strength or at least the ability to get involved in build-up play. But if either of those reasons are the case, then why sell Carroll, who brings the strength, or indeed Sakho, who provides at least some ability on the ball?

Then again, it could just be that none of them can be relied on to bang in enough goals when they’re first-choice strikers. All are potentially better as options on the bench, or at least as less reliable luxuries.

If that’s the case, what it means is – yes we’re back to this again – West Ham desperately need a striker. It’s just hard to speculate on which one the Hammers should go for considering there are plenty of reasons why Moyes might not like the options currently at his disposal.

But one option to consider – and who has been linked to the club in the past – is Sevilla striker Wissam Ben Yedder. A player who was sought-after a number of years ago when he broke through with Toulouse in Ligue 1.

Last season, after joining Sevilla, the Frenchman finished the season as top scorer with 18 goals and this year, he’s top scorer again, already with 14 to his name in all competitions. Indeed, he’s a long way ahead of his teammates – the next highest scorer is his strike partner Luis Muriel with just four.

And yet, most of those goals have come in the Champions League where the shackles have been off. In the league, it’s a different story. Ben Yedder has only scored four league goals so far, with eight coming in the Champions League.

That shouldn’t put West Ham fans off the idea, though. Ben Yedder is still the club’s top scorer in the league.

But so bad has it been for Sevilla that they themselves are looking for summer reinforcements under new manager Vincenzo Montella. Recently, they’ve been linked with some big Premier League names like Michy Batshuayi and Daniel Sturridge, as they seek to kick start their season.

The mere fact the Spanish club are looking for a new signing is one thing, but the fact they’re looking for such big names speaks even more loudly. If you’re a new manager coming into a club and you already start to target a big-name striker as the first thing you do, you certainly don’t give the vibes of a man who will stand in the way of your current attacker if he wants to leave.

But then we go back to the original question – why would David Moyes want him? After all, the Sevilla striker is even smaller than Javier Hernandez – five centimetres smaller, to be precise.

At first glance, it might look as though height and strength why the Mexican is allegedly surplus to requirements, but the talk of Carroll potentially being allowed to leave hints that size doesn’t matter to Moyes, or at least not in this case.

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Indeed, it might be the fact Chicharito is basically a fox in the box. He doesn’t provide much more than a threat from six yards. And when you’re in the midst of a relegation battle, you need a striker who can score you goals, sure, but also one who can provide an outlet on the counter attack. That is, you need pace or strength.

Pace is certainly something that Ben Yedder has, and he’s definitely a more skillful player outside of the box than anything the Hammers currently have. Crucially, he’s more comfortable in wider areas, too, with the ability to stand defenders up and beat them.

It’s no secret that West Ham want a striker given the paper talk. The enigma is whether they need a big one or a small one, a pacey one or a strong one, and nothing in the rumours really helps with that. But whatever the profile of the man Moyes wants, he could do a lot worse than Wissam Ben Yedder who may well be available this month.

West Ham United have confirmed that Andre Ayew has returned to former club Swansea City.

The Ghana international spent a year at the Welsh outfit before moving to the East London club in 2016.

In his first season, Ayew scored six goals and created three assists in 25 Premier League appearances.

In the current campaign, the 28-year-old has only started nine top-flight matches and has come off the bench in a further nine.

During that time, Ayew found the back of the net three times and produced two assists.

Manager David Moyes evidently did not see the winger in his plans for the club, and as a result sanctioned a move to Swansea.

According to Sky Sports, the Hammers pocketed £18m in the deal, which was a club-record fee for the Welsh club.

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After the news was announced on Twitter, fans posted their reactions, and some were not best pleased with the sale.

Southampton ended a 12-game winless run in the English Premier League on Saturday, beating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 away from home on a dramatic afternoon.Conceding within five minutes, it looked like it may be another one of those disappointing days for Saints, but they rallied and managed to secure the victory, finding goals from Mario Lemina, Jack Stephens and a wonderful James Ward-Prowse free-kick.As the relegation battle heats up, this single win saw Mauricio Pellegrino’s side jump from the relegation zone up to 14th in the table.Fans were of course delighted and singled out James Ward-Prowse as one of the team’s top performers and not just for his sumptuous 20-yard set-piece.They believe he’s the future of the Southampton midfield and even England’s at this year’s World Cup, overjoyed by the progress he is showing in recent weeks to help Saints climb out of their current mess. He has four goals and an assist in his last five appearances.Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the £13.5m-rated man…

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Even though West Ham United do not play Liverpool until February 24, the fans have already turned their attention to the switch.

The Hammers’ following took note of the Reds’ performance in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Jurgen Klopp’s men inflicted Porto’s heaviest European home defeat in the club’s history by earning a 5-0 triumph in Portugal.

The team’s high-flying attackers took centre stage as Sadio Mane scored a hat-trick, while Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino also got on the scoresheet.

For West Ham, it has been a shaky period in terms of results as David Moyes’s team have struggled for consistency.

After a three-game winless run in the Premier League, the East London outfit responded with a 2-0 victory over Watford last weekend.

The return of Marko Arnautovic has been warmly welcomed, and some supporters believe that the team are capable of beating Liverpool.

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At times, Klopp’s men have struggled to impose their flair and have suffered some surprise defeats as a result.

Other West Ham supporters, though, are slightly nervous after witnessing the Reds’ mauling of Porto.

Aston Villa will look to maintain their push for automatic promotion to the Premier League when they face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night, and Villa fans are divided on whether returning midfielder Jack Grealish, rated at £4.5m according to Transfermarkt, should start on Wearside.

The Midlands outfit currently lie four points behind second-place Cardiff City, and they missed out on the chance to close the gap to the Bluebirds when their game against Queens Park Rangers at Villa Park on Saturday was postponed because of the bad weather.

Steve Bruce’s side will get another opportunity to do that against the bottom-of-the-table Mackems however, with 22-year-old Grealish fit to play again after recovering from a calf injury he suffered last month.

Aston Villa supporters have been quick to have their say on his possible participation via social media, and they are divided with their opinions.

While one said “wouldn’t risk Grealish back if he’s not 100%”, another said “if Jack is fit he comes straight back in”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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Fernando Llorente is a triple Serie A winner, a Europa League winner, was a member of Spain’s legendary World Cup and European Championship winning squads, and this time last season was providing the goals to keep Swansea City in the Premier League.

But the 24-cap international has barely made a mark since signing for Tottenham Hotspur last summer, going on to score just two goals across all competitions, and suddenly appears a shadow of the threat that mustered up 15 strikes in the Premier League for a relegation-threatened side throughout 2016/17. The consequential question is obvious – why?

The notion that Llorente isn’t good enough for a club of Tottenham’s stature remains painfully simplistic. Llorente has consistently scored goals in Spain, Italy and Germany and at international level. Furthermore, Mauricio Pochettino is no fool – he clearly saw something in Llorente that would be of crucial use to this Tottenham team this season, to the extent that the club made exception from their usual template of investing in young players with obvious resale value to sign the veteran front-man at a cost of £12million.

There must be more something more systematic at work than Llorente apparently flattering to deceive throughout a hugely successful career, only to be found out at Tottenham Hotspur.

Of course, Llorente hasn’t been afforded a wealth of game-time, with his only two full ninety minutes for the Lilywhites thus far coming against Champions League whipping boys APOEL and League Two’s Newport County. All strikers are confidence players to some extent and the Spaniard hasn’t received enough minutes this season to build up his self-belief through a decent run of form.

But even so, considering the quality of opposition he’s faced – Barnsley, AFC Wimbledon and Rochdale – and the number of substitute appearances he’s made in the Premier League, 13, two goals in 20 appearances is an incredibly modest return. Compare that to someone like Michy Batshuayi, who scored 19 goals in 18 months while playing a similar bit-part role at Chelsea.

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Yet, it’s clear Llorente needs a very specific type of service. Seven of his 15 goals last season were headed goals, the joint-highest return of any striker in the division, and the former Bilbao man has always been an incredibly static striker – even more so at the age of 32. He’s not so much a target man who bullies centre-backs to bring others into the game as he is a poacher who uses his head rather than his feet.

Unlike Swansea last season, who essentially had no option, Tottenham can’t allow their game to become so one-dimensional, based on highlighting the strengths and hiding the weaknesses of one player, even if he is a centre-forward.

However, even though Tottenham’s game doesn’t centre around aerial bombardment, they’re actually the most prolific crossers in the Premier League, averaging two per match more than any side in the division this season.

Considering the personnel, that’s hardly a surprise either; Kieran Trippier, Ben Davies, Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose all average at least one accurate cross per match when in Tottenham’s starting XI. That’s more than enough service for Llorente to feed off, even if he’s only featuring sparingly from the bench.

And thus, we come to the true reality of the situation, the white elephant yet to be addressed – Harry Kane. To label Tottenham a one-man team would be grossly unfair, but it’s certainly true that they’ve become intrinsically dependent on Kane’s goals – his 24 this season represent the highest contribution to a team’s overall goals, a whopping 45%, of any Premier League player this season.

He’s Tottenham’s focal point and leaves impossibly large shoes to fill whenever Llorente is asked to  replace him; suddenly, the difference to the team becomes glaringly prevalent as an ageing front-man does his best to imitate the best striker in Europe.

That leaves Tottenham facing a significantly pivotal question; can any striker perform to something close to the best of their abilities when they’re an understudy to Kane? Vincent Janssen struggled last season too and it was the pressure that got to the Dutchman more than the increased demands of Premier League football compared to the Eredivisie; had one of those many point-blank chances to score found the net, he may well have gone on to enjoy a far more successful first campaign in north London.

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But that’s precisely the point – there’s so much focus on Kane that it creates an inevitably pejorative comparison with any striker who tries to compete with him for game-time, and puts too much pressure on them to score during the rare minutes they do receive. No matter who Tottenham bring in, whether they have Janssen’s potential or Llorente’s experience, they will always struggle to overcome that burden.

However, that’s not to say Llorente can’t contribute in other ways, which is perhaps why Pochettino brought him to Tottenham despite knowing he would struggle to provide a consistent supply of goals. As Tottenham further progress in the Champions League, the experience of a player with 64 appearances in European competition under his belt could prove vital – in the dressing room, on the training ground and from the bench.

And perhaps that’s the answer to finding Kane’s understudy; a forward who adds something other than goals to the team – the England international’s got that covered already – whether that’s bringing a new dimension to the attack or providing experience and leadership in the dressing room.

In that sense, Llorente’s performing his role this season perfectly, but it nonetheless feels a failed move for a player who arrived at Tottenham with such a decorated CV.

Manchester United can look forward to a big FA Cup semi-final at Wembley after comfortably defeating Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 on Saturday night.

Heading into the match there was plenty of pressure of Jose Mourinho’s outfit after a shocking European exit mid-week, but his side delivered, if not in performance then certainly in the result.

The majority of the players failed to impress across the 90 minutes but the Red Devils could rely upon two Mourinho favourites – Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku.

The duo scored the two goals to put United through and in the case of Matic, produced a man of the match calibre performance, dominating the midfield.

He kept his side pushing forward to put Brighton on the back foot and also assisted Lukaku’s opener. He’s emerged as one of the most important players in Mourinho’s side this season, a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed with supporters.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his Saturday display…

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It’s little surprise that rumours of Liverpool being interested in Wilfred Ndidi started doing the rounds on Twitter on Sunday evening, courtesy of Alpha Balde who is credited with first breaking the news of the delay in Naby Keita’s move to Anfield, after an incredibly impressive performance against Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

The Nigerian international has already made himself a mainstay of this Foxes side at the age of 21 by filling the void of the man he directly went toe-to-toe with on Sunday in Blues star N’Golo Kante, who famously clinched the title with Leicester City before replicating the feat at Stamford Bridge last season.

And while few would dispute Kante is the more polished midfielder at this moment in time – many putting him in the realms of world-class – the differences in their performances seemed largely minimal at the King Power Stadium, despite Ndidi eventually ending up on the losing side.

Indeed, with ten tackles, three interceptions, four successful aerial duels, 76 passes and 102 touches to his name, Ndidi actually outshone his midfield predecessor on all five fronts on Sunday, although Kante did create more chances including the assist for Pedro’s extra-time winner.

Liverpool certainly need that kind of presence in their team too. While Ndidi’s passing game lacks consistency at times, the Reds’ engine room is crying out for a genuine holding option at its base with Jordan Henderson, more of a box-to-box, undertaking that role on the most-part this season.

Ndidi already looks ready to take the next step in his career, so would you back a bid for the midfield enforcer – who Transfermarkt value at £16.2million – this summer Liverpool fans? Let us know by voting below…

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