9 – Lukas Jensen
The Danish goalkeeper arrived on a free transfer in June 2023 after Burnley released him, having spent the previous season getting regular League One football on loan at Accrington Stanley. His performances here earned a move to Championship side Millwall for an undisclosed fee in July 2024, just over a year after he had joined us.
Jensen is an example of the model working exactly as intended: identify a player, bring him in for a modest outlay, benefit from his performances and then sell him for a significant profit that helps fund the next signing. In his case, that meant helping us move on to George Wickens, but it would be unfair to reduce his contribution to a line on the balance sheet. He was a very good goalkeeper who came through a season of change and played a significant part in the run that took us to the brink of the play-offs.
After successive seasons borrowing Alex Palmer, Josh Griffiths and Carl Rushworth, committing to our own first-choice goalkeeper represented a noticeable change in approach, and it worked. We had somebody capable of improving the team while also building value for the club, which is precisely what we wanted. He only spent one season here, but the combination of his performances and the money his departure generated makes him a thoroughly deserving inclusion.
Hard to argue with the list … totally agree with comments about Harry Anderson !