Top 5 January transfers that you may have missed

Another pulsating, eye-catching and crazy January transfer window has come and gone with spending reaching a record breaking £419m. The window has been dominated by the Alexis Sanchez saga at Arsenal, the Chilean eventually opting for a move to the red side of Manchester, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way in a straight swap deal.

Both Liverpool and Manchester City broke their transfer records on centre-backs bringing in Virgil van Dijk (£75m) and Aymeric Laporte (£57m) respectively. Tottenham were also in the market. Sadly there was no Harry Redknapp hanging out his car window but they did manage to bring in the talented Lucas Moura from PSG for a modest £25m.

It’s been an exceptionally busy window and in this article I’m going to highlight and assess five transfers that you may have missed amidst all the big-money spending and piano playing announcements.

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#5 Jordan Hugill - Preston North End to West Ham United, undisclosed fee

West Ham had a frustrating window, many attempts to bring in players were rebuffed and considering their extensive injury list, they probably still feel slightly short-handed heading into the closing stages of the season.

Hugill was the latter of two signings for Hammers following the arrival of Joao Mario from Inter Milan on loan.

Hugill is highly rated in the Championship and by all means is a decent striker. The question remains, can he shine at the top level? Before his deadline day move he returned a modest 8 goals from 27 league games for Preston this campaign.

Those stats certainly won’t get the Hammers fans mouth-watering, however, at only 25 years-old he can certainly still improve. Preston priced several Championship rivals out of a move for their star striker by slapping a £8m price-tag on his head.

West Ham are believed to have paid between £8-10m, which in this market is cheap change but still a big enough outlay that they’ll expect Hugill to hit the ground running, and they need him to. West Ham have been struggling for goals all season.

#4 Aaron Lennon - Everton to Burnley, undisclosed fee

Aaron Lennon comes off the bench to make his Burnley debut in their 1-1 draw at Newcastle

Aaron Lennon is a Premier League veteran but is still only 30 years-old. As he said himself when completing his move to Burnley “I’ve still got a lot to offer”.

The Clarets will certainly hope Lennon can make an impact as they have faltered over recent weeks. Their draw away at Newcastle last night took them to eight games without a win.

Lennon was introduced an hour into proceedings at St James’ Park to make his Burnley debut. Sean Dyche will look to utilise his experience and raw pace with the hope of getting the best out of Lennon for the remainder of the season.

#3 Islam Slimani - Leicester to Newcastle United, loan

Slimani made an instant impact at Leicester scoring against Porto in the UCL

The unrest at Newcastle is once again at boiling point. The lack of investment is infuriating supporters, especially as they fight to retain their Premier League status.

Deadline day did see a good incoming player. What will frustrate the black and white army is that it is another mere loan deal.

Islam Slimani is the man tasked with scoring the goals to keep Newcastle in the top-flight. I would evaluate it as a good piece of business. There is no doubting Slimani as a talented striker despite his hot and cold form (mostly cold), for Leicester.

He has an impressive goal scoring record throughout his career which has tapered off since his arrival in the Premier League, but under the stewardship of Rafa Benitez we could still see the best of Algerian forward.

#2 Andre Ayew - West Ham United to Swansea, £18m

Andre Ayew during his first spell at Swansea

A case of the grass is not always greener for Andre Ayew. Ayew has returned to Swansea after an 18-month stay at West Ham. He lit up the Premier League when he arrived in South Wales the first time and he’ll be striving to re-capture that glistening form that garnered so much interest in him.

Swansea never replaced Gylfi Sigurdsson when he moved in the summer and this deal should provide the Swans with much needed creativity going forwards.

As for Ayew, a run of injuries hampered his start at the Olympic Stadium but he did show flashes of his quality at times. Can Ayew be the catalyst behind a great escape for Swansea?

#1 Gerard Deulofeu - Barcelona to Watford, loan

Deulofeu opens the scoring for Barcelona in their 2-0 win against Malaga

For me this was a brilliant transfer and a deal I’m sure Watford fans are very excited about. Gerard Deulofeu is no stranger to the Premier League having had a loan stint with Everton in 2013/14 before joining permanently in the summer of 2015.

Deulofeu, having come through the youth ranks at Barcelona, has been burdened by expectation and hype, but at only 23 years-old it is far too soon to draw conclusions over the explosive winger.

During his time with The Toffees he didn’t live up to the expectation despite showing signs of his class. He subsequently went on loan to AC Milan where he had a much more productive spell, his form in Italy triggered Barcelona to activate their buy-back clause in his contact and he subsequently returned to the Nou Camp.

The arrivals of Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho pushed Deulofeu further down the pecking order at Barcelona and Watford have reacted quickest to secure his services until the end of the season.

It will be intriguing to see how he fairs this time around in the Premier League. He has all the attributes to succeed but will things fall into place for the Spaniard.