Playmaker's EFL 72: #50 Haji Wright

The 2024 iteration of the 'Playmaker 72' is flying along and we're already into the 'Top 50' players we think have had the best seasons throughout the EFL.

It's certainly been no easy task, but - just to clarify - our '72' is less a roll call of the best footballers in the EFL and more a tribute to those players who have enjoyed the most memorable seasons while racking up the most impressive stats.

Whatever the criteria, we're confident in our selections of the most outstanding players through the Championship, League One, and League Two and welcome any debate on the subject!

Now, we enter our 'Top 50' with a player who took time to settle this season but has exploded into life in recent months...

Number 50: Haji Wright (Coventry City)

Coventry City reinvested the money they earned for last year's number one in the Playmaker 72, Viktor Gyökeres with several new signings. The most expensive amongst them was Haji Wright, who is the Sky Blues' record signing having cost £7.7 million when he arrived from Turkish side Antalyaspor.

Mark Robins' side took a while to get going, perhaps not surprising considering the major changes in the squad beyond just the frontline.

But now Coventry are once again fighting for the play-offs while also having set up a FA Cup semi-final with Manchester United at Wembley Stadium.

The striker has been a big part of that and it was the 27-year-old who scored that dramatic late winner in the 10th minute of stoppage time after an instinctive curling finish around José Sá after Ellis Simms' lay-off.

Wright is his club's top scorer he has yet to match Gyökeres' 2022/23 Championship goal tally of 21, but he's not too far behind having scored 15 in his 39 league games so far this season (including all competitions that tally goes up to 17 in 44 games).

Indeed, 15 league goals is nothing to sniff at this stage of the campaign with Wright ranking joint-fifth out of Championship players. 

As well as those 15, Wright has provided six assists, once again the most for a Coventry player. In total, the American international has 21 goal involvements, ranking him seventh overall for the Championship.

We suspect those numbers are only going to get higher and there’s plenty of time for Wright to bag more. The American has been in hot form at a crucial stage of the season for the Sky Blues who are looking up the table.

Playmaker's EFL 72...the countdown

51: Dan Crowley 52: Cameron Brannagan 53: Aaron Collins

54: Andy Cook 55: Connor Shaughnessy 56: Jannik Vestergaard

57: Willy Gnonto 58: Ellis Simms 59: Charlie Hughes 60: Fatawu Isshaku

61: Sam Hoskins 62: Paul Mullin 63: Chris Martin 64: Omari Hutchinson

65: Isaac Hutchinson 66: Sam Tickle 67: Ben Hinchcliffe 68: Michał Helik

69: Lewis Wing 70: Rob Apter 71: Kyle Walker-Peters 72: Alex Palmer