Done Deals: Yu Hirakawa to Hull, Obikwu to QPR, McDonnell to Oxford – plus LouOrns on two new Blues
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.
It’s a Championship-rich bulletin for you this morning.
We kick off with LouOrns on Birmingham’s latest bits of business…
🟢 Jhon Solís (CM) - [Girona - Birmingham] - Loan
Birmingham City can be a little too nice, particularly away from home, where they often struggle to build momentum and are relatively easy to stifle before being caught on the turnover. Tommy Doyle, Paik Seung-ho, Tomoki Iwata and, to a lesser extent, Marc Leonard all share similar traits as pass-first midfielders who lack a degree of dynamism and ball-carrying.
Although his time in La Liga has not gone to plan, Jhon Solís looks a more natural fit for English football. He is not the most technical midfielder, but he carries the ball with speed and purpose. While he is unlikely to dictate play, he will look to hit longer switches to the flanks and move teams up the pitch. He also brings physicality and height, at around 6ft 3in, alongside an impressive turn of pace that allows him to eat up ground quickly in transition.
It might take the 21-year-old a little while to hit the ground running, because he hasn’t played much football so far this season. Still, he gives Chris Davies something different to think about in central midfield, particularly in addressing Birmingham’s lack of athleticism and ball-winning.
🟠 Ibrahim Osman (LW/RW) - [Brighton - Birmingham] - Loan
Blues have also added Ibrahim Osman to their attacking options. The 21-year-old winger offers pace, 1v1 ability and a willingness to shoot whenever the chance presents itself. With Lewis Koumas currently occupying the left side and not looking entirely natural, and with Demarai Gray sidelined for at least another month, the Ghanaian could bring better balance if he starts.
After a disappointing loan spell in Ligue 1 with Auxerre, Osman now has the opportunity to kick on and show why Brighton paid £15m for him.
🟠 Yu Hirakawa (RW) - [Bristol City - Hull] - Loan
Whether or not he harbours faint hopes of a World Cup place following his Japan debut last year, it’s no surprise Yu Hirakawa is leaving Bristol City on loan this month.
The 25-year-old winger doesn’t fit into Gerhard Struber’s wingerless system, just as he didn’t fit into Liam Manning’s: although he has featured in 24 of the Robins’ 27 league matches under Struber, he started only three, including the first two. Since Boxing Day, Yu’s minutes on the pitch in Championship fixtures reads 1, 5, 0, 5, 1, 14, 2, 34, 1, 27. He needs starts.
Will he get them at Hull, though? Joe Gelhardt offered a consistent goal output on the right wing before injury, and lately Kyle Joseph has been positioned there with a similar remit. Yu is more creator than goalscorer, more winger than inside forward, and he may be exchanging Plan B status at one playoff-hunting club for another. He’ll also have Mohamed Belloumi to contend with once he returns from a hamstring tear.
Still, Yu will provide an injury-ravaged Hull with extra depth and potential impact from the bench. Conversely, loaning out Yu and Harry Cornick (to Stevenage, below) on the same day leaves Bristol City a little light in the short term. Their substitutes last Saturday featured Yu, two goalkeepers and a 17-year-old, so tonight’s matchday squad will be interesting.
🟢 Jamie McDonnell (CM) - [Nottingham Forest - Oxford] - Undisclosed
Oxford needed a ball-winner. Fans have been crying out for that type of player ever since Alex Gorrin’s knees gave out, and while they caught a whiff of it with Alex Matos on loan last season, they can take a yogic inhale of the stuff now.
Whilst on loan at Mansfield, McDonnell recorded more tackles than any other player across England’s top four tiers this season, and his 62.7% duel success rate is the second-highest of any midfielder to have been involved in 250-plus duels. Bish. Bash. Bosh.
The 21-year-old might not be up to Championship-standard as a ball-player, but those are wrinkles for later. Yellows needed legs and aggression, and they’ve got it.
🟠 Justin Obikwu (ST) - [Coventry - QPR] - Undisclosed (reported 500,000)
With Rumarn Burrell sidelined until March and Michael Frey effectively out of the… fray, QPR needed another striker to support Richard Kone. Despite the short-term need, this is a move made with the longer term in mind, consistent with the club’s approach over recent windows.
Aged 21, Obikwu signs from Coventry having never made a senior appearance there, with his 60-odd professional games coming on loan at Grimsby and Lincoln. Across two spells at Grimsby, he showed flashes of real promise when fit, though availability was an issue. At Lincoln this season, he was largely used from the bench, scoring three league goals.
Obikwu fits the modern power-forward mould, combining speed and physicality. However, it is his finishing that really stands out. His 13 league goals to date have come from just 60 shots (22% conversion) and 9.12 xG.
A reported £500k fee is modest by Championship standards, and the upside is clear. Obikwu does not yet have the same League One body of work as Burrell nor Kone, but both stepped up well, which suggests QPR know the profile they are targeting: low risk and potentially high reward. He shouldn’t have to wait too long for minutes, and we’re intrigued to see how he fares.
⏳ Charlie Lennon (LW) - [Middlesbrough - Barnsley] - Undisclosed
In the summer, Barnsley struck gold by bringing Reyes Cleary to the club following his stint at Hartlepool. They now add another dribbly winger in 19-year-old Charlie Lennon, who, like Cleary, arrives from the North East – only this time it’s from Middlesbrough, after impressing on loan at Darlington.
Right-footed and operating from the left, Lennon has produced seven assists for the Quakers in the National League North this season. The former England U16 and U17 international looks noticeably composed once his ball-carrying takes him into the final third. Unless Cleary departs later in the window, an immediate impact shouldn’t be necessary, making this signing closer to sensible future-proofing than a short-term fix.
🟠 Joel Randall (AM) - [Bolton - Blackpool] - Loan
Things were messy at Bolton this time last year. Randall found himself in the middle of it, signing for a seven-figure fee as things became desperate under Ian Evatt. He played just three games for the man who signed him before Evatt was sacked.
Randall hasn’t started more than four league games in a row under Steven Schumacher, who doesn’t appear to fancy him much. That may have contributed to a lack of rhythm and confidence; his output, minimal where once it was strong. Evatt clearly has faith, though, and will hope to inject some swagger back into this speedy No.10.
The 26-year-old logged 0.50 goals and assists per 90 for Exeter and then 0.46 per 90 for Peterborough – a decent return. He isn’t much of a lock-picker, but his pace should make Blackpool even more dangerous in transition, which is an area they have leaned into recently. The squad has plenty of central midfielders but few players with Randall’s profile, so he adds something different.
🟠 Alfie Lloyd (ST) - [QPR - Lincoln City] - loan
QPR have signed Coventry City’s Justin Obikwu (see above), who had been on loan at Lincoln City. Taking with one hand, they are giving Alfie Lloyd with the other, at least until the end of the season.
Lloyd, 22, spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Leyton Orient, but started only once after arriving mid-injury. He remains raw, although his profile does overlap somewhat with Obikwu’s. Lloyd can shift when he gets going and has the ability to cause some chaos, even if that chaos is not always controlled.
🔴 Harry Cornick (ST) - [Bristol City - Stevenage] - Loan
When Stevenage fans looked up their 30-year-old new forward and saw that he’d played 97 minutes in all competitions over the last season and a half, they probably thought: injury. Yes, there were one or two knocks, and even a three-match suspension for violent conduct in a match he didn’t play in. However…
…that is a lot of time spent on the bench, available but unwanted.
The truth is that neither Liam Manning nor Gerhard Struber found a role for Cornick. Naturally a centre-forward, he played mostly on the right after joining Nigel Pearson’s Robins on deadline day in January 2023 and got into some good positions, using his in-behind threat. He’d previously been excellent in a front two at Luton, sniffing out chances during back-to-back promotions and their first few seasons in the Championship.
That was a long time ago now. Stevenage need attacking impetus, having posted by far the lowest xG in League One, and Cornick alone can’t provide that. He did make a positive 20-minute debut in defeat at the weekend, mind.
🟠 Luke Harris (AM) - [Fulham - Wycombe] - Loan
Harris heads out on his fourth EFL loan, aged only 20. It hasn’t quite clicked for him in senior football yet, but given how outstanding he was at youth level for Fulham, it still feels like a case of when, not if.
The Welshman has already shown himself to be tenacious and capable of chipping in with the odd goal at Exeter, Birmingham and Oxford. Regular minutes are now essential if he is to properly establish himself, however, and League One should provide a better landing spot for that than a Championship relegation battle did.
🟢 Danny Rose (ST) - [Grimsby - Barrow] - Undisclosed
Barrow sit 19th in League Two, six points clear of the drop, but their underlying numbers tell a story. Over the last five games, they’ve averaged 1.81 xG per match and posted the 3rd-best xG ratio. They’ve lost four of those five games. In other words: Barrow need a finisher.
The forwards already on the club’s books – Rhys Healey, Innes Cameron, Tyler Walker, Josh Gordon and Kane Hemmings – have just five league goals between them. That context explains this gamble.
Yes, there is risk in turning to a 32-year-old with a patchy injury record. But there is also logic. Rose has proven pedigree at this level, with back-to-back 10-plus goal seasons for Grimsby in 2023/24 and 2024/25. A long career may be catching up with him, and the back issue that saw him slip down the Mariners’ pecking order may be a concern, but the bar at Barrow is so low that even a modest return would represent a significant upgrade.
We’re in dice-roll territory, and this move feels like a sensible risk when your team is creating chances without reaping the rewards.
Catch you Tuesday!
A word on Lennon to Barnsley, I think he gets more game time thank you think. Conor has confirmed Fabio Jalo will leave on loan, which leaves us with just Clearly as a winger. Dkd could play there, Phillips is sort of occupying that right half space at times and you could put O'Keeffe there but unless we're committing to a back 3 and even still, Lennon is on the bench at worst every week. Plus we've got Tuesday, Saturday until the end of the season with our 8 quadrillion games in hand.