Done Deals: Saints bring in a GK from Bayern, Blades sign Hoever and Huddersfield & Cheltenham replace key departures – plus Sam Parry on MK luring Wiles
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.
Today, Sam Parry takes the lead to discuss MK Dons’ latest signing who is surely too good for League Two…
🟢 Ben Wiles (CM) - [Huddersfield - MK Dons] - Undisclosed
Across 172 appearances under Paul Warne at Rotherham United, Wiles developed from prospect to professional. The midfielder produced goals and assists at a healthy rate for a young player, especially given that many of those outings came in second-tier relegation scraps.
After drifting in and out of the Huddersfield side under Lee Grant, Wiles now gets a fresh start with an old pal, and that matters. His form has often appeared closely tied to his manager. Under Warne: productive. Under Michael Duff: productive. The rest? Not so much.
This reunion has been prompted by injuries of differing severity to Mendez-Laing, Will Collar and Alex Gilbey, and without those absences, the deal may not have materialised. But it has, and it was needed. Gilbey has been the sole consistent goal threat from central midfield. They need more.
Wiles fits closer to the Gilbey mould than Collar’s athleticism. The 26-year-old offers technique, an eye for a pass, and output in and around the box. In that sense, MK are adding a shot-hungry #8 with more than 100 appearances in the Championship and close to 150 in League One. At fourth-tier level, he should go well.
🟠 Ki-Jana Hoever (RB) - [Wolves - Sheffield United] - Loan
Blades need cover at right-back, with the only available option, Femi Seriki, having played through a knee injury. Seriki (22) has been outstanding since returning to the side, though, and on the face of it, Hoever could be arriving to play second fiddle. We think it’ll be more of a rotation situation.
The 23-year-old offers a different toolkit to Seriki. He isn’t explosive and won’t carry the ball at pace, but he is neater with it, more comfortable in possession, and arguably more switched-on defensively.
The last time Hoever played regularly at this level was in 2023/24, when he scored four goals and added five assists in 35 starts for Stoke. That is strong output – but possibly something of a purple patch, particularly given his subsequent loan spell with Auxerre in Ligue 1, where he managed one goal and two assists across 30 appearances. The Dutchman could be a good option for Wilder, but at the moment, the starting berth isn’t broken.
🟠 Daniel Peretz (GK) - [Bayern Munich - Southampton] - Loan
Southampton have taken a short-term solution to their long-term goalkeeping problem, bringing in Peretz until the end of the season. Between them, Gavin Bazunu and Alex McCarthy have underperformed their ‘expected saves’ to the tune of 62.8 goals across 233 appearances for the club, and only a handful of teams have conceded more goals than Saints this season. Is Peretz the golden bullet? Perhaps… or perhaps not.
The 25-year-old, who has 10 caps for Israel, is light on his feet with good reflexes and the agility to save the seemingly unsaveable on a relatively frequent basis. He is quite conservative in claiming crosses, however, and his distribution is only serviceable. He has also been starved of match action, making just two domestic cup appearances on loan at Hamburg this season after playing in only seven competitive games for Bayern Munich since joining them in 2023. Still, that alone isn’t reason to doubt his ability – it just makes his potential impact harder to gauge.
🟢 Cameron Humphreys (CM/AM) - [Ipswich - Huddersfield] - Loan
Huddersfield were always in for a tough January when it became clear that the form of loanee Leo Castledine had attracted suitors further up the footballing food chain — he’s expected to join Middlesbrough on a permanent deal imminently. The Terriers have moved quickly to bring in a midfield replacement: 22-year-old Cameron Humphreys, who was coached by manager Lee Grant at Ipswich.
While you wouldn’t expect Humphreys to provide quite the same outstanding goalscoring output as the departing Castledine, he’s certainly a more creative passer. Alfie May’s goal return should benefit, among others. Humphreys isn’t exactly goalshy himself, either, having scored seven and set up another six for Wycombe last season. He’s a classy technician who always seems to have time on the ball – while he may lack the raw athleticism that’s all the rage these days, his intelligence and technical ability should add plenty to Huddersfield’s play.
🟠 Jak Alnwick (GK) - [Cardiff - Huddersfield] - Undisclosed
The younger of the goalkeeping Alnwick brothers had a rollercoaster few years at Cardiff: some ups, some downs, then slowing to a gentle stop. Joining as an understudy, he became No.1 when Ryan Allsop left, before losing his place, quickly earning it back, losing it again, winning it back again, and even captaining the club for half of their relegation season until injury intervened. But the 32-year-old hadn’t featured in a 2025/26 matchday squad since opening day, so this is the move he needs – and he’s a good acquisition for Lee Grant’s Huddersfield.
Alnwick was reasonably solid in the Championship. Having conceded 33 goals from 30.5 xGOT (expected goals from shots on target) in 2023/24, he let in 45 from 43.5 behind a weak Cardiff defence last season, which again ranked him in lower-mid-table for shot-stopping. He was also willing to sweep up and tell his defenders what to do. Huddersfield have just returned underperforming loanee Owen Goodman to Crystal Palace, so Alnwick will challenge Lee Nicholls for starts and maintain high standards as a quality back-up at League One level.
🟠 Will Forrester (CB) - [Bolton - Leyton Orient] - Undisclosed
There’s no doubt Orient need to improve defensively, having conceded the most goals in League One. Between their four contracted centre-backs – Omar Beckles, Jack Simpson, Dan Happe and Rarmani Edmonds-Green – there are plenty of questions marks around both ability and availability.
Both of those questions apply to Will Forrester. Across his two and a half years with Bolton, regular injury issues scuppered any chance of graduating from high-potential signing to key player. He played well for a few months at the start of 2025, before suffering an injury in April. This season, he hasn’t been in a single League One matchday squad, although he did play twice in the EFL Trophy. Not exactly a vote of confidence from Steven Schumacher.
At 24, can Forrester fly back into rhythm and help to sort out Richie Wellens’ backline?
🔴 Jon Russell (CM) - [Barnsley - Mansfield] - Loan
At surface level, signing a midfielder who scored 11 goals last season – and on loan from a divisional rival, no less – would usually feel like a coup. But it might not be that straightforward with this particular Mansfield signing.
At Barnsley, Russell seemingly dropped out of favour quickly through the summer months: his league minutes have dropped from over 3,000 last season to just 300 in this one, all of them coming from the substitutes bench. He has featured more heavily in cup competitions, where his goal threat has remained – he scored twice in early Carabao Cup rounds and once in the EFL Trophy – but his overall performances have raised questions that his level of condition and fitness isn’t what it was.
Russell, 25, is out of contract at Barnsley in the summer. He needs to use this temporary move to remind people of his ability level.
🟠 Oliver Irow (ST/LW/RW) - [Tottenham - Mansfield] - Loan
Even after scoring seven goals in three games over the festive period, upwardly-mobile Mansfield have bolstered their forward line by bringing in Irow on loan from Spurs.
The 19-year-old registered a direct goal contribution (2G 1A) in each of Spurs’ EFL Trophy games this season, in addition to scoring in their UEFA Youth League matches against Monaco and PSG. An industrious No.9, Irow is a good size but also capable of operating on the left or right of the attack, being technically adept with a deceptive change of pace.
🟢 Freddie Anderson (CB) - [Stoke - Barrow] - Loan
Paul Gallagher has immediately used his Stoke connection to make 19-year-old centre-back Freddie Anderson his first signing as Barrow boss. Freddie, son of former England international Viv, has represented the United States at youth level and this will be his first EFL loan… but not his first loan this season.
Anderson spent the rear end of 2025 in the League of Ireland with Cork City. It was a spell that featured a considerable amount of adversity: Cork were detached at the bottom of the table, relegated, and also lost in the LOI Cup Final. Anderson featured regularly on the right side of a three-man defence, and while it wasn’t a vintage spell for the club, it could be the making of the player.
Barrow didn’t get much production from their loanees during the first half of this season. Anderson, though, arrives with good pedigree and a sought-after modern-day centre-back profile, and he will be under the tutelage of a trusted guardian. This has the feel of an impactful loan for Barrow and Anderson alike.
🟢 George Nurse (LB) - [Shrewsbury - Cheltenham] - Free
Nurse, as his name may cruelly suggest, has spent a fair bit of his career on the treatment table. Yet his ability is hard to deny, and one man who knows that better than most is his new/old boss Steve Cotterill, after the pair worked together at Shrewsbury.
This is only a short-term deal until the end of the season, but having been effectively frozen out by Shrews, Nurse will be happy to be back playing under a manager he knows well. Cheltenham, for their part, get a player with a history of performances in the league above, and a handy weapon in his long throw. He has been sufficiently injury-free to impress on National League loans at Yeovil and Solihull Moors this season, and he could have a similar impact with the Robins should he stay healthy.
🟠 Jake Bickerstaff (ST) - [Wrexham - Cheltenham] - Undisclosed (loan turned permanent)
It makes sense for all parties that Bickerstaff would make his time at Cheltenham permanent, because his minutes and contributions to games have both increased since Steve Cotterill returned to the club.
The 24-year-old striker is well-liked, lauded by supporters for his work rate, but he hasn’t been at all prolific in his career and Cheltenham are in need of some serious goal output if they’re to keep heading in the right direction despite losing Hakeeb Adelakun, Ethon Archer and Isaac Hutchinson in the past week. Everyone leaves them, it seems – everyone except good ol’ Bickers.
🟢 Jackson Smith (GK) - [Barnsley - Grimsby] - Loan
A fan favourite after keeping three clean sheets in four games during an emergency loan spell in December, Smith returns to Grimsby until the end of the season. The circumstances of his return highlight a familiar issue for the Mariners. Last season, they recorded the third-lowest save percentage in League Two, prompting them to recruit Christy Pym over the summer – but he has struggled, with his goals-prevented figure of -6 being the division’s second-worst.
Smith, by contrast, has already made a clear impact. From 16 shots faced, worth 4.37 xGOT, he has made 13 saves and conceded just twice. If Grimsby are to rediscover their early-season form, cutting out the goals that simply should not be going in would be a good place to start.
Well, that’s been the busiest day of the window so far…
Ki-Jana Hoever is an excellent signing for Sheffield United. Was one of the best full-backs in the league the season before last at Stoke. Solid season for a mid table team in Ligue 1 last time.
Think he goes under the radar a little bit