Middlesbrough have spent heavily in the chase for an immediate return to the Premier League while Aston Villa lead the Midlands challenge with John Terry

Title challengers

Over a long summer it has been difficult to get away from the usual faces at the same select few clubs – none more so than that of the Middlesbrough chief executive, Neil Bausor, who has been pictured with a beaming smile time and again alongside new arrivals at the Riverside.

He has, with the owner, Steve Gibson, and the new manager, Garry Monk, helped to assemble a squad that will surely challenge for automatic promotion. Their ambition is quite simple. “We want to smash the league,” Gibson said in May. “We want to go up as champions.”

Boro have addressed key areas after being relegated from the Premier League, splurging £30m-plus on three strikers after scoring a paltry 27 league goals last season. Britt Assombalonga, a £14m signing, has joined alongside Ashley Fletcher and Martin Braithwaite, and Monk can still call upon the forwards Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford.

Away from attacking firepower, Cyrus Christie and Connor Roberts, on loan from Swansea City, will battle it out at right-back, Jonny Howson will add further Championship bite and they have a trusty new No1 in Darren Randolph. More pertinently, Monk has a side that will thrive under his expansive style.

The Boro captain, Ben Gibson, George Friend, Dani Ayala, Grant Leadbitter, Adam Clayton and Adam Forshaw are the only certain survivors from the 18-man squad that lost at Liverpool on the final day of last season.

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Only Aston Villa have a squad to rival Boro. After failing to meet expectations last term, Steve Bruce has parachuted in 131 years’ worth of experience in the form of John Terry, Chris Samba, Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady. Bruce has bolstered his defence – leaving Micah Richards and Tommy Elphick on the fringes – but they badly need a solution up the other end. Jonathan Kodjia could use a helping hand from Scott Hogan, who found the net just once for Villa last term. Terry’s arrival alone means nothing less than promotion is acceptable.

On the face of it Derby County are weaker than last time around with Will Hughes among those to have left. Integral to any success will be managerial stability and in Gary Rowett they have a young coach with a superb reputation for working with what is at his disposal. He has ample attacking options – with Chris Martin available – and new signings Curtis Davies and Tom Huddlestone will improve the spine of his side.

Jaap Stam signed a new two-year contract at Reading in the close season and with his immediate future sorted, the team who missed the Premier League on penalties have to be taken seriously. Stam has admitted interest in Huddersfield’s Nahki Wells and they are a striker short of competing for promotion again. Another side who fell short in the play-offs, Sheffield Wednesday, have completed a £10m deal for Jordan Rhodes, a striker who has proved priceless at this level.

As for Fulham, their best business was retaining their dancing playmaker and captain, Tom Cairney, and the teenager Ryan Sessegnon. They have again leaned on the loan market and the striker Aboubakar Kamara, a summer arrival from Amiens, looks an exciting permanent addition. The club has the tools to go one better but must keep their manager, Slavisa Jokanovic, who has made worrying noises over the transfer policy, saying his list of summer targets has been ignored.

Play-off contenders

The Steel City derby is back on the menu and it is not only Wednesday who could impress. Sheffield United hit the 100-point mark to win the League One title and Chris Wilder has strengthened a capable group. John Lundstram, the former Oxford captain, bolsters his midfield and the defender Richard Stearman – Wilder’s No1 target – joins from Fulham. Wilder could add the Southend winger Ryan Leonard with the club willing to reinvest the sell-on fees earned from this summer’s transfers of Harry Maguire and Kyle Walker.

The West Midlands could have an increased Premier League presence next year, with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City also determined to mount a promotion challenge. Wolves have sprayed cash around, leading their former manager Mick McCarthy to describe their summer spending as “outrageous”. There have been huge personnel changes at Molineux, with the manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, among those treading new ground. They spent £15.8m on the Porto midfielder Rúben Neves and secured a series of left-field loan deals – with the super-agent Jorge Mendes thought to be influential.

At St Andrew’s, Harry Redknapp has not done quite as much business as he would have liked, with the Barnsley defender Marc Roberts and goalkeeper David Stockdale the notable additions, despite a number of high-profile players being linked. “I’m just desperate to do well but I need the tools to be able to do that,” Redknapp said. “If I get the tools I’ll do that; if I don’t then it’s going to be difficult.”

Norwich City have appointed Daniel Farke in the hope the German can rejuvenate a side that had become stale under Alex Neil. There has been an unsurprising German influx with Marcel Franke and Christoph Zimmermann, Farke’s captain at Borussia Dortmund II, signed to shore up a leaky defence. Well, it worked for Huddersfield and David Wagner. Leeds United could again go close, although Thomas Christiansen was a bizarre managerial appointment. Cardiff City will be quietly confident about what may be possible under Neil Warnock after adding Danny Ward and keeping Kenneth Zohore. They have also nabbed Lee Tomlin from Bristol City, who will fancy their own chances of gatecrashing the top six.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Leonid Slutsky faces a tough task as the new Hull City manager. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/JMP/REX/Shutterstock

Relegation candidates

The annual Hull City exodus has left Leonid Slutsky, a former Russia manager, with a rebuilding job. His close friend Roman Abramovich has helped with a couple of Chelsea loanees – Ola Aina and Michael Hector – but the arrival of Liverpool’s Kevin Stewart seems the shrewdest piece of business. Retaining Kamil Grosicki and Sam Clucas may define their season. Hull’s five signings are likely to be thrust straight into the starting line-up and will need to hit the ground running. There is nothing to suggest another relegated side, Sunderland, have enough quality to ensure an instant return either, with the manager, Simon Grayson, seemingly their best piece of summer business.

Barnsley will be expected to struggle, and unsurprisingly so, given that they were again raided by Championship rivals over the summer, with Roberts and Josh Scowen moving for Birmingham and Queens Park Rangers respectively. They are at least operating with a chief executive after five months without one, and Gauthier Ganaye has helped Paul Heckingbottom attract some exciting young players, including Cameron McGeehan, Jason McCarthy and Ethan Pinnock.

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Millwall and Bolton Wanderers are set for a season of battling against the wind as their squads look light on quality. Bolton will hope Adam Armstrong, the Newcastle United striker who has signed on a season’s loan, can provide the goals needed to stay afloat. As for Burton Albion, Stephen Warnock and Jake Buxton, who arrive from Wigan, add plenty of know-how to their backline but Nigel Clough will need to work wonders again to ensure they escape the drop.

There is never a dull moment when McCarthy is involved. The Ipswich Town manager said his team were a shambles after a pre-season 6-1 thrashing by Charlton. “Come along and support us and cheer us and let’s hope we can beat Birmingham, and if we don’t, then I accept the inevitable,” he said. An untimely bout of illness has affected Ipswich too. All in all, it does not bode well.

Three players to watch

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Striker Ike Ugbo is at Barnsley on a season-long loan from Chelsea. Photograph: Greig Cowie/Rex/Shutterstock

Ike Ugbo, Barnsley

This season-long loan will be the 18-year-old Chelsea striker’s first taste of senior football after a couple of prolific campaigns at youth level. Signed by Chelsea as an under-10, Ugbo, a striker with pace and power, will be keen to replicate Tammy Abraham’s sudden rise.

Famara Diédhiou, Bristol City

The Robins paid Angers a club-record £5.3m fee for the striker. Deja vu? City paid the Ligue 1 side £3.25m for Jonathan Kodjia two years ago before Aston Villa came calling. The head coach, Lee Johnson, hopes the 24-year-old Senegalese can make a similar splash.

Ollie Watkins, Brentford

The 21-year-old is the latest academy product to exit Exeter City for a bigger team. The League Two club sold Watkins for a club-record fee, in the region of £2m, after scoring 16 goals last season. They also sold 16-year-old Ethan Ampadu to Chelsea.