Charlton get busy, Tanto returns to Stockport, Stevenage snap up a National League star, and Imps sign the Oné – plus Gab Sutton on Barry Bannan to Millwall
Every day from Tuesday to Saturday, NTT20.COM writes-up and rates every single signing in the Championship, League One, and League Two.
Contributors include: Ali Maxwell, George Elek, Sam Parry, Huw Davies, Riley Roberts, Matt Watts, Craig Bradley, Gab Sutton and Luke “LouOrns” McKenzie.
Things are popping off in south-east London, and Charlton are right at the centre of it. But first, Gab Sutton kicks us off with a South Yorkshire stalwart who’s found himself in a new shade of blue.
🟢 Barry Bannan – Sheffield Wednesday to Millwall - Permanent
After 11 years of exemplary service, Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has left Hillsborough, hoping to win one last promotion of his playing career with Millwall.
Bannan has demonstrated incredible loyalty in the Steel City, that which has been rarely seen in modern football, sticking with the club through extremely difficult times, as well as steering them back into the Championship, his dedication, passion and leadership never wavering.
Those are qualities his new employers will admire, as the Lions add a Championship veteran to a talented 27-man squad, of which 15 players are under 25.
Not only will Bannan set a great example off the pitch, joining lieutenants like Jake Cooper in running the dressing room, he’ll also lead by example on it, demonstrating a fantastic passing range. He has a graceful touch, infused with an urgency to get things moving.
Can the 36-year-old play 90 minutes every game? Well, no. Not effectively: he’ll need to be used sparingly and someone else might have to do his running.
However, he’ll bring a new dynamic to the South Bermondsey outfit, who have creative #10s, excellent one-v-one specialists out wide, and a potential goalscorer in Mihailo Ivanović, but they didn’t have a playmaker to bring it all together.
That may explain why the Lions have only won twice with a possession majority this season, one of those coming against beleaguered Wednesday, so Bannan could be a useful tool in unlocking those low blocks – a similar role to Paul Gallagher, potentially, for Alex Neil’s PNE side.
He wouldn’t play in the Premier League if Millwall went up, but they’ll cross that London Bridge if, as, and when they come to it: a great bit of business.
🔴 Tiernan Brooks (GK) - [Gateshead - Charlton] - Undisclosed
Gateshead are rock bottom of the National League and Brooks has been the busiest goalkeeper in the division, facing the most shots on target and conceding the most goals. But the 23-year-old’s shot-stopping numbers suggest that Gateshead would’ve conceded plenty more if they’d had a league-average keeper in goal. A former Republic of Ireland U21 international, he jumps three divisions to battle Will Mannion for the right to be Thomas Kaminski’s #2.
🔴 Jayden Fevrier (RWB/RW) - [Stockport - Charlton] - Loan
This is Part One of ‘Loanee Swapsies’ between Charlton and Stockport. The Addicks are playing poorly at both ends of the pitch and need to find a better balance. At right wing-back, Harry Clarke is the current starter, James Bree is back at Southampton, and Rob Apter has been sent to Bolton (more on that later). Nathan Jones may not have liked what he saw from Apter, but memories of Thierry Small’s interpretation of a hybrid RW/RWB role in last season’s promotion clearly linger – he wants a tricky dribbler available to him, and Fevrier is exactly that.
As with Apter, and with Olaofe (more on that later, too), there’s a big question mark around whether or not Fevrier can step up. In 18 months at League One level, he has been patchy. One particularly good spell towards the end of last season didn’t roll over into this campaign. It would be a surprise to see him used as anything other than a bench option, and we may even see him feature a little on his ‘natural’ left side. But it’s hard to see Fevrier having much more impact than Apter.
🟠 Paddy McNair (CB) - [San Diego - Hull] - Free
McNair is returning to English football after a stint in MLS with San Diego, for whom he made 25 appearances in the 2025 season, helping them to reach the semi-final of the MLS playoffs. McNair’s return comes in the form of a move to high-flying Hull, and although he’s now in his thirties, the signs from his time in America are that he hasn’t lost any of the ability that made him a dependable top-end Championship option for a sustained period of time. There’s no denying that this is exactly the kind of solid, ‘get us over the line’ signing that gives Hull the squad options to maintain their promotion ambition.
🟠 Rob Apter (RW) - [Charlton - Bolton] - Loan
✅⛔️✅⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️✅⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️✅⛔️✅⛔️⛔️
⛔️✅⛔️✅⛔️⛔️✅⛔️⛔️⛔️✅⛔️⛔️⛔️⛔️✅⛔️⛔️⛔️✅⛔️⛔️⛔️The green shows where Rob Apter made 1+ goal contributions for Blackpool in League One starts during 2024/25, the red where he didn’t. It neatly illustrates the curious patchiness in the 23-year-old’s game: stretches where he looks bang on it, followed by others where he fades out entirely.
Realistically, that comes with the territory of an inverted right-winger who wants to come inside onto his left foot and strike for goal. The spectacular does not always land. The injured man he is covering for, Armando Cozier-Duberry, can attest to that too. The difference is that ACD is, by some distance, a bigger contributor to the all-round game, with greater involvement in build-up and a stronger record of getting stuck in defensively and, as a winger, win the ball high up the pitch.
That said, Bolton have acted quickly since news of Cozier-Duberry’s injury. Yesterday it was Corey Blackett-Taylor. Today, they double down, plugging the gap further with Apter.
🟢 Ryan Oné (ST) - [Sheffield United - Lincoln] - Loan
Lincoln’s striker options, Freddie Draper (who often drops into a deeper role) and James Collins, have scored six and four goals respectively. While the Imps do spread their goals well across the XI, adding a different striker profile was a clear need going into the window.
Another long-overdue need in the EFL has been finding a loan move for Ryan Oné. It probably should have happened in the summer, but a mix of slapdash recruitment at Sheffield United and the expectation that then-manager Rubén Sellés would give him minutes meant the opportunity never materialised.
The 19-year-old has the frame for senior football. In brief cameos for the Blades, including an 86th-minute equalising header against Bristol City last season, his physicality has never been in doubt. There are moments where he lacks finesse and the ball does not always look fully under control, but that is not necessarily a flaw. He is a bully of a forward, naturally strong and quick enough to overwhelm defenders.
If required, he can play off the left, but whether wide or central, his instinct is always the same: get close to goal and get shots away off either foot.
🟠 Jake Evans (ST/RW) - [Leicester - Northampton] - Loan
Mea culpa: this deal went through on Tuesday night, just in time for Evans to play 10 minutes for Cobblers away at relegation rivals Rotherham. Consider the delay our equivalent of giving a MOTM-winning whelp a bottle of pop because they’re too young for champagne.
Evans is just 17 years old, you see. Normally this would necessitate an hourglass rating for immediate impact, but it’s significant that Kevin Nolan trusted him at 1-1 in a relegation six-pointer (which, unfortunately, Northampton then lost 2-1). Evans impressed Nolan during a week spent training with his team, prompting him to sign the youngster and say, “He doesn’t look or play like a 17-year-old – he’s not shy to put himself about”.
The Leicester loanee is persistent rather than powerful, so League One defences could provide a test. Although he’s primarily a striker, with a good low finish on his left foot, there’s a chance Evans will feature on the wing at first. Fans should feel cautiously excited, if such a thing is possible; if you don’t believe us, take the word of Como’s first-team scout.
🟢/⏳ Jack Taylor (CB) - [Sutton - Stevenage] - Undisclosed
“Confident, yet humble. Physically imposing, yet technically sound.” That’s how we described Jack Taylor in our National League Transfer Targets piece back in November, and the 6ft 4in centre-back has now earned his move to the EFL.
Still only 20, Taylor has featured prominently for Sutton over the past 12 months and has already shown the hallmarks of a natural leader. His frame is ideal for a centre-back and he looks mature beyond his years, which helps explain why a host of EFL clubs were circling.
It is a tricky one to rate. Stevenage sit just one point off the play-offs in League One, built largely on the meanest defence in the division. Do you really disrupt that by throwing in a young centre-back? Probably not. He may not be expected to make much of an impact this season, if any at all.
On the other hand, Charlie Goode missed out last game with injury, and Stevenage are well clear of relegation danger, so easing in a prospect who could develop into a valuable asset makes plenty of sense. Either way, there is more than enough here to suggest this could prove a very shrewd long-term acquisition, so we’ll hedge our bets.
🟢 Tanto Olaofe (ST) - [Charlton - Stockport] - Loan
Completing the game of ‘loan swapsies’, Charlton send Tanto Olaofe back where they found him, in return for Jayden Fevrier. Olaofe featured in 22 of Charlton’s first 25 Championship fixtures, the majority off the bench, but the signing of Lyndon Dykes knocked him down the pecking order. In truth, Olaofe struggled to make an impact in the 700 minutes he did play.
With a number of other promotion-chasing League One clubs sniffing around, Stockport moved quickly to make sure Olaofe returned to them. He has a good understanding with Kyle Wootton and will likely play up top alongside the big man, running in behind and peeling out wide to the left, where he caused damage last season. Olaofe, 26, was by no means prolific in League One – just 8 league goals to follow the 20 he scored in promotion from League Two – but Stockport have missed his athleticism in the first half of this campaign, with their attacking play lacking its previous verve.
This is a statement signing; one that should instantly improve the first team and ensure that County’s attacking depth is something to be envied.
🟠 James Plant (CM) - [Port Vale - Tranmere Rovers] - Undisclosed
When a player has previously been nicknamed the “Son of Crosby”, it should come as little surprise to see him reunited with his so-called father figure. Andy Crosby not only handed James Plant his senior debut at Port Vale, but also gave him a sustained run of games during the 2023/24 season.
After Crosby’s departure, Plant found opportunities harder to come by at Vale, but he has impressed across two National League loan spells with Yeovil. The 21-year-old is energetic, quick and versatile, capable of playing as a left winger, a left wing-back or even as a central midfielder.
There is a note of caution. Plant has suffered a couple of fairly serious shoulder injuries during his early career, so availability remains a question. But if he can stay fit, it is clear Crosby knows how to get the best out of him.
It is also worth noting that the move has drawn a mixed response from Port Vale supporters, with some questioning the decision to part with a 21-year-old academy product who could have featured in League Two next season.
We’ll be covering deadline day before, during and after the 2nd of February. If you have any thoughts on what your club needs NOW, then let us know in the comments.
Watford desperately need a CB who can progress the ball in a more varied way, we've been missing Max Alleyne hugely. Whilst we're at it if we could get someone to get Javi to take the handbrake off that'd be a great double whammy! Finally LB cover wouldn't go a miss, outside Louza, Bola has been our best and most consistent player but having an occasional rest wouldn't be awful!