Who’s making their point? Our guide to how summer splurge adds up

THERE’S no doubt Cardiff City have offered value for money on the pitch so far this season.

And after a manic summer that saw the Bluebirds recruit no fewer than 10 players, it’s safe to say Neil Warnock’s astute transfer business is ensuring that Cardiff are value for money off the pitch too.

But how exactly does their record so far this season compare with their Championship rivals and who has the highest money spent per points total after the summer transfer window?

Here’s the full table based on how much money the 24 Championship clubs have spent to gain every point accrued so far this season... 1 Middlesbrough – £2.95m spent per point Summer spend: £50,090,000; Current points total: 17 Garry Monk’s side were always likely to feature high up on this list given their bumper summer spend which saw them smash their transfer record to sign striker Britt Assombalonga from Nottingham Forest.

But he wasn’t Boro’s only big-money signing.

Monk’s men paid hefty fees to take Martin Braithwaite, Ashley Fletcher, Jonny Howson and Darren Randolph to the Riverside Stadium, while Ryan Shotton, Cyrus Christie and Marvin Johnson all commanded fees of more than £2m each.

Boro are currently 11th with 17 points from their opening 12 league games. 2 Birmingham City – £1.45m spent per point Summer spend: £15,900,000; Current points total: 11 With Harry Redknapp at the helm, the hierarchy were quick to splash the cash at St Andrew’s as the Blues looked to improve on their disappointing 2016-17 campaign.

Jota, Marc Roberts and Maxime Colin were among those to make the move to the West Midlands, but a miserable start to the season saw Redknapp lose his job after six consecutive defeats.

Cardiff fans will be all too aware of the early impact made by Birmingham’s new boss Steve Cotterill, but having collected just 11 points so far this season, the Blues are ranked second in this list. 3 Reading – £1.1m spent per point Summer spend: £13,140,000; Current points total: 12 Having agonisingly missed out on promotion into the Premier League last term, the Royals weren’t shy in bolstering their squad in the summer in a bid to go one better this time around.

They forked out more than £7m to take Sone Aluko to the Madejski Stadium from Fulham, with goalkeeper Vito Mannone, former Swansea winger Mo Barrow and Wales international Dave Edwards among those to join Jaap Stam’s side.

But the going has proved to be tough for Reading so far this season, with just three wins from their opening 11 Championship fixtures. 4 Hull City – £1.09m spent per point Summer spend: £14,180,000; Current points total: 13 Following their relegation from the Premier League, a host of top stars including Sam Clucas, Harry Maguire and Andrew Robertson all departed the KCOM Stadium, along with manager Marco Silva.

In came Russian boss Leonid Slutsky, and Kevin Stewart, Nouha Dicko and Stephen Kingsley followed the 46-yearold in through the door from Liverpool, Wolves and Swansea respectively. 5 Fulham – £0.92m spent per point Summer spend: £16,580,000; Current points total: 18 Fulham were expected to challenge for promotion once again this season having ended the 2016-17 campaign in stunning fashion, although it ultimately saw them suffer play-off heartache against Reading.

Portuguese striker Rui Fonte was snapped up from Braga while Aboubabar Kamara, Ibrahima Cisse and Marcelo Djalo all commanded fees.

And Slavisa Jokanovic’s side have suffered just two league defeats so far this season, although they have drawn half of their 12 Championship games to date.

Fonte will be expected to produce the goods between now and the end of the season having scored just once for his new club so far. 6 Sheffield Wednesday – £0.83m spent per point Summer spend: £13,230,000; Current points total: 16 The Owls are another side who looked to build on an impressive 2016-17 campaign, with Carlos Carvalhal paying more than £11m to sign striker Jordan Rhodes from Middlesbrough.

Dutch central defender Joost van Aken was the only player to command a fee in the summer for the Owls, and with four wins, four draws and four defeats to their name so far this season, there’s no doubt it’s been a very mixed start to the season for the Hillsborough outfit. 7 Leeds United – £0.80m spent per point Summer spend: £15,984,000; Current points total: 20 The Whites were well and truly blown away when they visited Cardiff City Stadium prior to the international break, but it’s otherwise been a very positive start to life under Thomas Christiansen for Leeds.

Pontus Jansson signed a permanent contract at Elland Road ,while Samu Saiz, Hadi Sacko, Mateusz Klich, Ezgjan Alioski, Pawel Cibicki and Jay-Roy Grot all arrived to form a new-look Leeds side who are just six points adrift of top spot with a quarter of the season gone. 8 Wolves – £0.76m spent per point Summer spend: £19,840,000; Current points total: 26 The whole of the Championship took note when Wolves splashed out £16m to take Portuguese star Ruben Neves from Porto to Molineux.

And the 20-year-old has certainly played his part in Wolves’ stunning start to the season which sees them occupy top spot in the Championship with 12 games gone.

Defence was clearly a priority for manager Nuno Espirito Santo in the summer, and the recruitment of centre-back Roderick Miranda and left-back Barry Douglas has been nothing short of a masterstroke for the club. 9 Derby County – £0.63m spent per point Summer spend: £10,098,000; Current points total: 16 Wales internationals Tom Lawrence and Joe Ledley both moved to Derby in the summer, with the latter joining on a short-term deal following the conclusion of the transfer window.

And, along with Ledley, Gary Rowett has added plenty of experience in the shape of Tom Huddlestone and Curtis Davies to his ranks in the summer.

The Rams could be one of the dark horses to impress this season.