Top 10 Best Strikers in the EFL Championship 2024

The best striker in the 2023/24 English Football League (EFL) Championship season was Blackburn Rovers finisher Sammie Szmodics. Szmodics, despite being an attacking midfielder, was the division’s top scorer, hitting the back of the net 27 times in 44 matches, with four assists, as he collected the Championship Golden Boot Award. 

It is a rare feat for any league’s highest goal scorer to play in a side fighting relegation, never mind playing in midfield and not up front. He scored 45 per cent of Blackburn’s goals and ended with 33 goals in all competitions. Szmodics’ goals saved Blackburn from relegation to League One. Rovers finished 19 in the Championship, two points above the drop. 

SportsBoom looks at the best strikers in the EFL Championship 2024 to find out which players scored all the goals, and what their goals meant for their respective clubs. Here are the top 10 goal scorers from England’s prestigious second division. 

Who are the Top 10 Best Strikers in the EFL Championship 2024?

Leicester City won the 2023/24 English Football League Championship. Leicester (97) edged Ipswich Town (96) by a point to claim the division title. Southampton finished fourth, three points behind Leeds United in third place. West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City finished fifth and sixth, respectively, and both lost their EFL Championship Playoff semifinals.

Leeds thrashed Norwich 4-0 on aggregate, and Southampton beat West Brom 3-1 on aggregate. The Saints edged Leeds 1-0 in the EFL Championship Playoff final, joining Leicester and Ipswich in the Premier League. These are the season’s top 10 highest goal scorers and best strikers. 

1. Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn Rovers)

Szmodics’ excellent form throughout the campaign earned him a place in the 2023/24 EFL Championship Team of the Season. He was awarded the EFL Championship Player of the Month for November 2023 after scoring six goals in four games, and he was also named as Blackburn's Supporters' and Players' Player of the Year.
Szmodics became the first Blackburn player since Alan Shearer to reach 30 in a season. On the final day of the season, Szmodics scored twice in a 2-0 away win against league champions Leicester City, keeping Blackburn up in the Championship.

2. Adam Armstrong (Southampton)

Adam Armstrong finished six goals behind Szmodics in second place on the top 10 best strikers list. Armstrong scored 21 goals in 46 matches, 24.1% of Southampton’s goals. The Saints frontman scored crucial goals in the EFL Championship Playoffs. 
His semifinal goal against West Bromwich Albion put his team 2-0 ahead with 12 minutes remaining in the 3-1 aggregate win. Armstrong delivered again in the final against Leeds United, scoring the only goal of the game to send Southampton straight back to the Premier League.

Szmodics and Armstrong are the only strikers to score more than 20 goals in the EFL Championship in 2024. Armstrong, however, added 13 assists to his goal tally, the most out of the top 10 highest scorers list. 

3. Crysencio Summerville (Plymouth Argyle) and Morgan Whittaker (Leeds United)

Crysencio Summerville and Morgan Whittaker both fell one goal short of 20 for the season. Summerville and Whittaker are tied-third on the top 10 highest EFL goal scorers of the season list, with 19 goals for Plymouth Argyle and Leeds United. 
Summerville, however, played 43 matches, with nine assists, three fewer games and one more assist than Whittaker (8). This is an exceptional feat considering both players are wingers and not strikers. Summerville scored 23.5% of Plymouth’s goals, while Whittaker had more influence at Leeds, scoring 32.2% of the West Yorkshire club’s goals. 

5. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

Jamie Vardy was the fifth highest scorer in the Championships. Vardy, who is the highest-paid player in the EFL Championship, scored 18 times, with two assists, to help Leicester City return to the Premier League. 

The England international scored 20.2% of Leicester’s goals last season. Although not prolific by any means, Vardy’s contribution to the Foxes winning the 2023/24 EFL Championship and gain Premier League promotion at the first ask, were vital. 

6. Che Adams (Southampton), Emmanuel Latte Lath (Middlesbrough), Haji Wright (Coventry City), and Josh Sargent (Norwich City)

Emmanuel Latte Lath, Haji Wright, Josh Sargent, and Che Adams are tied in sixth place, with 16 goals each. Lath scored 22.5% of Middlesbrough’s goals, but only had one assist. Wright had slightly more influence at Coventry City, scoring 22.9% of his team’s goals and seven assists. Sargent scored 20.3% of Norwich City’s goals, with two assists, but it was not enough to get the East Anglian club back into the top flight. 

Armstrong might have scored six more goals than team-mate Adams, but Adams goals were no less instrumental in helping the Saints stay in the playoff places. Both striker’s goals got the south coast club to the EFL Championship Playoffs final, where they beat Leeds to be promoted back to the Premier League. 

Adams scored 18.4% of Southampton’s goals, with four assists. When combined with Armstrong, the two players scored almost two-thirds (63.4%) of the club’s goals during the successful EFL season. 

10. Jack Clark (Sunderland)

Jack Clark is ninth on the top 10 Championship strikers list. Clarke scored 28.8% of Sunderland’s goals, ending the season with 15 goals and four assists from 40 matches for the Black Cats. 

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