Latest Championship transfer news: Watford keen on USA defender, Luton Town & Preston linked with PL midfielder, Burnley join race for EFL striker | OneFootball

The January transfer window is already beginning to take shape after only opening a couple of days ago.

With 20 games remaining in the season, Championship clubs will be looking to use these four weeks as an opportunity to improve in key areas as they look to make a final push towards their end goal.

All 24 teams in the league may use this as a chance to improve in certain areas of the pitch, as their realistic targets for the season will have become clearer over the Christmas period.

Teams at the top will be looking to add that key player who could make a difference between the play offs and promotion, while teams near the bottom will be hoping fresh additions can steer them away from the relegation zone.

As the January transfer window is now officially open, here at FLW, we have looked at some of the transfer news that is going around in the division.

Promotion hopefuls Watford are leading the race for Arminia Bielefeld defender George Bello, according to a report from Football Insider.

Slaven Bilic is said to be looking at the January transfer window as an opportunity to solve Watford’s current injury crisis. Left-back is a current position that Bilic doesn’t have many options in, with regular Hassan Kamara currently still unavailable.

Now it seems as though the Hornets are trying to solve it by bringing in USA international defender Bello.

The 20-year-old is currently playing in Germany’s second division after Bielefeld suffered relegation last season. The left-back has struggled for regular game time this season, with him only starting three games out of a possible 17.

The report from Football Insider adds that Bello could be available for a cut-price deal of around £1.5 million as the German side are currently struggling. The report also adds that there are said to be other Championship sides interested in the 20-year-old as well.

Luton Town and Preston North End are interested in signing Newcastle United midfielder Elliot Anderson on loan this month, according to a report from the Chronicle Live.

Anderson caught the eye of several sides last season when he joined League Two side Bristol Rovers on loan. The 20-year-old featured 21 times in the league and managed to grab eight goals and provide five assists as Joey Barton’s men returned to League One.

That saw the midfielder linked with plenty of clubs during the summer following his impressive time at the Memorial Stadium, but Newcastle boss Eddie Howe decided to keep him at St James’ Park.

Anderson has featured this season for the Magpies, but his appearances have mainly come from the bench in the league, while he has started two games in the EFL Cup. As the January transfer window has now opened, it seems Newcastle are willing to let the 20-year-old leave the club temporarily for the remainder of the season.

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Burnley join race for Bristol City man

Burnley are now the latest team to join the race for Bristol City striker Antoine Semenyo.

According to Bristol Live, the Clarets have joined the race to sign the striker in this transfer window, despite them currently being the runaway leaders of the league.

It was reported at the beginning of the week that Premier League side AFC Bournemouth were interested in signing Semenyo this month as well.

The Clarets seem to have joined the race now as the Lancashire outfit are looking to add to their firepower this month as they look to seal an instant return to the Premier League. Burnley have been linked with moves for Nottingham Forest’s Sam Surridge, Coventry City frontman Viktor Gyokeres, and Brighton and Hove Albion’s Deniz Undav, and now Semenyo seems to have joined that list.

Bournemouth are yet to make a concrete offer for the Ghanian international according to this report, but Cherries boss Gary O’Neil has confirmed they are planning on improving the squad. So, it seems it could be a two-way fight for Semenyo if both teams are genuine about their interest.