In addition to the recently-relegated trio of West Ham United, Wolves and Burnley, Southampton are likely to have a big part to play in what already looks like an extremely intriguing automatic promotion battle in 2026/27.
That is, of course, presuming the Saints eat up that four-point deduction pretty quickly, while recovering from the ‘Spygate’ scandal which saw them tossed out of the play-offs like Barney Gumble out of Moe’s after one too many Duffs.
West Ham United will be the early favourites for promotion, closely followed by Wolves and Burnley. Southampton, though, are unlikely to be too far behind.
The fixtures are out! How many points do West Ham NEED in the first 5 games?
Turf Moor is a tough start…
Especially if the Saints win the race for a midfielder with two promotions on his CV already. A deal they are clearly making speedy progress on.
According to Sky Sports’ Keith Downie, the Saints are closing in on the signing of Dan Neil; the Sunderland playmaker who would walk into most second-tier XIs and make an immediate difference.
West Ham are interested in soon-to-be free-agent Neil, too. And ahead of his contract expiring on July 1st, the Hammers could deliver an early blow to a potential title rival by making a late play of their own for the former England Under-20 international.
It is too early to utter the word ‘hijack’. But, well, this is one to watch over the next 24 hours.
West Ham United and Southampton like Sunderland’s Dan Neil
“Southampton are in advanced talks with midfielder Dan Neil,” Downie reported on Thursday afternoon. “The free agent midfielder is high on [Saints coach] Tonda Eckert’s wish list, and is close to signing.
“There’s also interest in the 24-year-old from Wolves and West Ham.”
Neil, Downie says, ‘has his pick of top Championship clubs’.
One wonders how he would react, then, if West Ham made an eleventh hour offer to hijack a deal Southampton are working to close at the earliest possible opportunity.
If the Saints are a solid bet for a midfielder keen to add to the promotions he secured at Sunderland and during a loan spell at Ipswich Town, then West Ham may represent the very best chance Neil realistically has of making it a hat-trick.
Another team keen to throw their hat into the automatic promotion ring are Middlesbrough. Kim Hellberg’s side spent much of last term in the top two but ended up having their hearts shattered by surprise-packages Hull City in the play-off final.
According to the Teesside Gazette, Middlesbrough were hoping to strengthen their hand with Hibernian’s Josh Mulligan.
However, as West Ham add the John McGinn-esque midfield dynamo to their own wishlist, Boro have reportedly accepted defeat in the knowledge that other, deeper-pocketed clubs can offer more ‘lucrative’ terms.
Saints and Middlesbrough may struggle to compete with the Hammers
Approaching their first Championship campaign since 2011/12, West Ham are in the rare position of being the sharks in the market of relative minnows. Snatching Dan Neil from Southampton while beating Middlesbrough to Mulligan would not only represent a fine start to their midfield overhaul, it would also cement West Ham’s position as the big dogs of second-tier football.
An early statement of intent, if you will.
Neil captained Sunderland to play-off glory in 2025/26. Initially a number eight, Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris transformed the academy graduate into a deep-lying number six with considerable success. Neil was the man who controlled the tempo and pulled the strings in front of the backline. Currently, none of West Ham’s current midfielders appear capable of excelling in such a role.
“He’s very clever, very important [when we need to] adjust the formation and balance the team,” Le Bris told the Northern Echo in January 2025.
“[Neil] is very important for the team. He can add more things like more forward passes, tackling, counter-pressing, and you can see how strong he is as an individual player. But at the same time, the role he has for the balance of the team is very important.
“The role of ‘six’ is very important to the team, especially to manage the counter attacks. Dan is so important and impressive in that role. He’s very clever, very stable and he drove the ball at times as well. He is improving his way of playing with the team.”
As for Mulligan, the all-action dynamo has earned comparisons to former Hibs favourite McGinn due to his ceaseless running and his remarkable intensity.
The control of Neil plus the chaos factor of Mulligan; Whether it is a title-winning midfield partnership is anyone’s guess. But West Ham shouldering Southampton and Middlesbrough out of the queue would certainly show that there is a new sherrif in the Championship.
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