Transfer Deadline Day Live!
Until 18:00 join the NTT20.COM team for live coverage of every EFL signing as they happen.
All the moves, as they happen.
Today, we’re rating every EFL signing on this blog until we hand over to Ali and George for the NTT20 Deadline Day live show at 18:00.
Keep refreshing for the latest
🆕 14:04 - Gills get one in
Omar Beckles (CB) - [Leyton Orient - Gillingham] - Free
Write-up and rating coming soon…
🆕 13:32 - Stags make a signing, we’re not rating it though…
Tyler Roberts (AM/ST) - [Birmingham - Mansfield] - loan turned permanent
Tyler Roberts gets out of his Birmingham contract a few months early which allows his loan at Mansfield to be turned into a contract until the end of the season. Roberts hasn’t featured for the Stags since the 8th November and will be eager to get back on the pitch and add to his three goal tally in order to secure a deal at Field Mill, or elsewhere for next season.
🗑️ 13:28 - Didn’t necceasrily expect a sacking today.
But Valérien Ismaël leaving Blackburn certainly tops the list of Deadline Day’s biggest movers and shakers. Here are Andy Watson’s thoughts:
Life under the Venky’s ownership continues to amaze as Blackburn Rovers have managed to find a novel use for Deadline Day. Clearly bored of searching for players to improve their prospects of remaining in the Championship this season, the decision-makers at the club wanted the bigger challenge of finding a new head coach to guide players old and new into the final third of the season.
Rovers are currently in the relegation zone, which is clearly below expectations. However, Blackburn are a club who are slowly slipping down the league in terms of the financial packages available to players and staff. The team has overperformed in recent years, getting close to the playoffs in three of the last four seasons, but they are currently on a really poor run of form. With Portsmouth, Norwich and others looking more than capable of pulling away from the drop zone, the decision to roll the dice has been made.
Blackburn, as mentioned on the podcast numerous times, have been one of the big xG and statistical outliers of the season. Many people thought that a positive run of results around November and December would be the catalyst for a decent season, but goals have dried up as injuries have hit the small squad.
Some may question the timing. They have recruited for Ismael’s style of play all month and, with players returning to the first-team squad at the moment, is it fair for Ismael to carry the can at this stage?
There have been strong rumours of Tony Mowbray returning to Rovers until the end of the season. It is easy to see why this may appease the fans, though it was the fans who were calling for Mowbray’s head by the end of the 2022 season as well. Football, eh?
🫨 13:19 - Sheffield seemingly the epicentre of today’s as it stands…
🆕 13:16 - Here’s LouOrn’s on Orient’s new left-back
🟠 James Morris (LB) - [Watford - Leyton Orient] - Undisclosed
James Morris to Leyton Orient has been a long time coming. It was meant to happen in the summer, but it’s finally happening now. He’s a left-back who can also play as an outside centre-back due to his ability to pass the ball through the lines. He’s got a good cross on him too, especially from deeper areas.
He’s not athletic, strong or quick, but he’s someone Cleverley liked due to his tactical understanding of the game. He’s much better suited to a wing-back system because of the lack of strengths outlined above. He’s someone you want to give the ball to, one touch, cross.
🔜 13:14 - Yikes for Owls.
Local journo reporting that Bailey Cadamarteri will join Wrexham. We will, of course, post it up here if/as/when it happens.
🆕 13:09 - Another one. Like buses. We did say so…
🟢 Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba (AM/LW) - [Aston Villa - West Brom] - Loan
Jimoh-Aloba, 19, is one of a number of players who’ve moved from West Brom’s academy to neighbours Aston Villa’s youth setup in recent years. Now that he’s on the brink of a breakthrough at Villa Park, with a Premier League debut and a Europa League goal under hit belt, Villa make the call that the best way to manage the talented teenager’s development is for him to get regular Championship minutes and send him back to the Baggies.
He’s powerfully athletic and technically adept with his passing and ball-carrying. He can suffer from the odd languid moment, but if he curbs that then it’s likely that his long-term senior football will be played at the top table. The teenager can play in any of the roles behind the striker but is most natural operating centrally or from the left. Karlan Grant’s injury, expected to keep him sidelined for three months, provides Jimoh-Aloba with an obvious route straight into the XI.
🆕 13:03 - First transfer KLAXON!!!!
And it’s my (Sam’s) team, Blades who get us up and running. So proud right now.
🔴 Leo Hjelde (LB) - [Sunderland - Sheffield Utd] - Loan
Sam McCallum sustained a serious injury against Millwall on Saturday and will likely be ruled out for the season. The domino effect of that is Harrison Burrows becoming first choice, and a door opening for a back-up player.
Hjelde started five matches for Sunderland last season, including one minute in the play-off final as Sunderland beat the Blades. A good organiser who wants to win headers, not unlike McCallum, he’ll bring a solid level of cover, if nothing stand-out for the level.
🛑 12:41 - All done, but not a done deal
Omar Beckles’ time at Leyton Orient is up. Wonder if we’ll be seeing him again on this blog today?
🌭 12:35 - Still not a sausage, but…
…we’re expecting some movement soon. It’ll be like buses.
🔙 12:07 - Total Recall at West Brom…
Sam Iling-Junior is being recalled by Aston Villa from Baggies before heading to Pisa. Given he was their only natural wing-back option, under a manager who insists on playing wing-backs, this is going to have consequences.
🤔 11:45 - It should be pointed out that this time last deadline day, we were scratching our heads at how it quiet it was… it’s the same now.
It may therefore interest you to learn that today, 2 February, is literally Groundhog Day.
Merry GD to all who celebrate.
🍅 11:31 - Some saucy and well-sourced rumours coming out of Swindon…
Nope. We’re not talking about computers that will eventually destroy the world, but Aaron Drinan, who could maybe, eventually, move to Salford, per BBC Wilts…
🚨 11.25 - It isn’t, is it?
Ipswich DON’T make the first signing of deadline day…
If we’re getting technical about it, perhaps they do. But loaning Charlie Runham from Chelsea for their U21s is not going to be our official first signing of the day, even though there maybe an obligation to buy embedded into the deal.
🔝 11:21 - Huw’s favourite top 3 biscuits btw…
Lidl dark chocolate digestives
Bourbons
Rich tea
*Yes, we’re still waiting for the first signing of the day
🍪 11:16 - On the subject of biscuits…
Did you know Bermondsey used to have the nickname “Biscuit Town”?
Me neither, until a few seconds ago. But that’s where we’re heading for the 249th and 250th signings of the window, courtesy of Huw Davies…
🟢Tommy Watson (LW) - [Brighton - Millwall] - Loan
🟠Anthony Patterson (GK) - [Sunderland - Millwall] - Loan
Two of Sunderland’s Wembley heroes – the match-winner and the match-saver – reunite in London, joining a Millwall side who’ve stopped hiding their light under a bushel. They’re ambitious, they’re fifth and they’re strengthening.
Watson, let’s not forget, has played very little football. His £10m transfer to Brighton came when he’d made just seven senior starts in his career; that’s now 12, in all competitions, to go with 20-odd substitute appearances. The teenager could rack up a few more of those at Millwall, because he’s still a bit raw yet his speed and directness make him a threat against tired defences. He’s also tall, yet technically smooth, keen to get shots off and able to threaten centrally – as he showed at Wembley – as well as in his natural role on the left wing.
He is, in short, a great pick-up by Millwall. We just need to keep in mind that he has played barely a dozen 90s to date.
Patterson is slightly different. The 25-year-old keeper made 150 league appearances for Sunderland before being discarded upon promotion, whereupon the excellent performances of Robin Roefs rewarded the club’s ruthlessness. Patterson was excellent in 2023/24 but less sturdy in 24/25. His weakness is in claiming crosses, showing authority in the box, although that happens to be where Millwall’s defenders excel.
They can protect his weaknesses; he can protect theirs. Only eight teams in the league face more shots on target than Millwall (including, curiously, another three of the current top six in Hull, Wrexham and Coventry), so their goalkeepers are busier than you might expect. With Lukas Jensen a long-term absentee, Steven Benda failed to convince and Max Crocombe has… actually done pretty well. Second-highest save percentage in the division. A net three or four goals prevented against the xG on target. Maybe they don’t really need a fifth goalkeeper after all.
It’s January, though – well, February – and the Premier League is within sight. Nettles are being grasped.
💬 11:10 - Over a breakfast of black coffee and four caramel digestives…
I (Sam) was wondering about Championship clubs coming in for Josh Sargent, but as Oli mentioned in the comments, the MLS is probably the likely destination, and their window doesn’t shut until March.
Norwich seem to have done the prep work though…
🟠 Mohamed Toure (ST) - [Randers - Norwich] - Undisclosed (reported £2.6m rising to £3.3m)
As Josh Sargent tries to manoeuvre a move away from Norwich with his eyes on a place in the United States World Cup squad, into Carrow Road arrives Mohamed Toure, who himself has aspirations of being at the festival of football with Australia. Toure left down under in 2022 for Reims before joining Randers in 2024 after minimal minutes in France.
Pace is the name of Toure’s game, specifically his explosive acceleration over the first few yards. The last striker signing from Randers to the Championship was Tanner Bany to West Brom, a move that hasn’t reaped any rewards to date. Norwich will be hoping for more from Toure, but they might not need him to burst onto the scene, such is the season that current number nine Jovan Makama is having.
In fact, a Makama-Toure one-two punch carries some excitement, with one potentially softening up defences for the other.
💬 10:57 - How about a Beatles pun nobody asked for?
“Bang Bang Maxwell’s silver hammer came down on… an Owl and a Dragon.”
🟠 Tayo Adaramola (LWB) - [Crystal Palace - Sheffield Wednesday] - Loan
Wednesday’s fourth loan signing of the window gives them a replacement for Harry Amass, who left four weeks ago.
The good news is that he’s certainly more suited to playing LWB in a three-at-the-back formation than LB in a back four, and Wednesday will provide the role that suits him.
The less good news is that Adaramola, impressive during Bradford’s League Two promotion, struggled in League One with Leyton Orient, and hasn’t necessarily earned a Championship move on merit, more by Wednesday’s circumstances. He’ll carry it down the left side at speed, but his final product is patchy, and defensively he’s been found wanting. But Wednesday have no one other than youngster Reece Johnson to play in this position, so expect Adaramola to come straight in.
🟢 Zak Vyner (CB) - [Bristol City - Wrexham] - Undisclosed (reported £1.5m)
Vyner’s contract was up this summer and, as with Anis Mehmeti, Bristol City have opted to sell now rather than lose him for free.
Wrexham are buying a peak-age player with experience, with only four players having played more Championship games than Vyner since the start of the 2020/21 season.
Wrexham are also buying versatility. Vyner is most comfortable as an outside centre-back in a three, but has played plenty at right-back in his career, and a third of his minutes this season have come as a defensive midfielder. He has a broad, not specialist, skillset. He’s a solid defender without being dominant, decent on the ball without being spectacular.
His first challenge will be dislodging Max Cleworth, who has excelled this season at RCB. This is an addition that makes Wrexham’s squad depth look incredibly strong, and even feels like a rare ‘value’ signing for the club who have spent so big, so often in the last few years. Vyner may never become a sure-fire starter for Wrexham, but he won’t let them down if he does.
💬 10:47: As we wait for the first signing, shall we have a bit more Champ?
And a bit more Andy Watson for that matter…
🟠 Oladapo Afolayan (WF/CF) - [St. Pauli - Blackburn Rovers] - Undisclosed
Afolayan returns to Lancashire four years after departing Bolton for St. Pauli in Hamburg. Whilst Blackburn cannot quite match the Reeperbahn for nightlife, entertainment, or left-leaning political counter-culture, unless my hometown has changed substantially of late, Rovers can at least offer first-team minutes, something that Afolayan has not been getting in the Bundesliga recently.
Afolayan has actually been on the Rovers radar for a number of years, since really impressing in a friendly against them back in 2021. Back then, he was more of a wide forward suited to a 4-3-3 system, but rarely have I seen a more evenly split positional variance than Afolayan’s. He has played 31% of his career appearances as a left forward, 27% as a centre forward, and 22% on the right of the attack.
For Rovers, who have adopted a 3-4-1-2 under Valerian Ismael, Afolayan is surely bought with his pace and power on the break in mind, so a position in the front two looks likely. However, he hasn’t spent any time on the pitch competitively since 1 November, and fewer than 200 league minutes in the Bundesliga this season is a concern.
There is no doubt in my mind that when he left the EFL he was ready for the Championship, but things have moved on in the second tier whilst he has been in Germany. Afolayan was certainly good enough for the 2. Bundesliga, but can he produce the level to change things for Rovers in their struggles? It will be difficult to achieve.
10:39 - 🌍✈️ Overseas transfer tidbits from Andy Watson (GBE Expert Hub)
🔹 League Two > League One
More ESC slots have been used in League Two than in League One. It’s the first time this has happened in a transfer window since ESC was introduced in May 2023.
🔹 Plenty of room to manoeuvre
60 of the 72 EFL clubs start today with at least one ESC slot still available. The Championship has the most clubs who’ve already filled their slots, despite having four each, while League One and League Two only have two.
🔹 A genuinely global window
16 of 74 Championship arrivals this window have required a work permit — that’s 22%
🔹 Shopping at the top table
Championship clubs have signed players from the top tiers of:
🏴 England
🇪🇸 Spain
🇫🇷 France
🇩🇪 Germany
🇮🇹 Italy
💬 10:35 - Point of order…
There have been zero signings so far today. Whilst we wait, here’s Ali on the four bits of League Two business from over the weekend.
🟠 Fin Back (RB) - [Wycombe - Colchester] - Loan
Fin Back, the right-back, son of Rugby World Cup winner Neil Back, had a fantastic first loan at Carlisle, with whom he won League Two promotion in 22/23. He returned for their League One campaign and was an important player before a hamstring injury halted his progress.
He left Nottingham Forest for Wycombe, but Back hasn’t got in front of Jack Grimmer and heads back to League Two needing to regain confidence and rhythm. Here’s hoping his energetic style hasn’t been curbed too much by injury. Kane Vincent-Young has done well for Colchester this season at right-back but has had a heavy workload. Back provides a good second option, who may even make the RB spot his own.
🟢 Rhys Bennett (CB) - [Manchester United - Fleetwood] - Undisclosed
Oh boy, do Fleetwood need a centre-back. It’s just two clean sheets in their last 21 league games, plus injuries to James Bolton and Finley Potter, as well as Zach Medley’s departure, have left them light.
Captain of Manchester United’s FA Youth Cup-winning team in 2022, 22-year-old Bennett found it tough on his first loan at Stockport but was very popular on loan at Fleetwood last season, where he played the seventh most league minutes of any player in 24/25. His permanent return has delighted an otherwise dissatisfied fanbase. They know Bennett is decent on the ball, has an appetite for defending, and is well-suited to the middle or right of their back three.
🟢 Calum Kavanagh (ST) - [Bradford - Oldham] - Undisclosed
There’s a lot to like about this. With Michael Mellon out long term, Kavanagh offers something different from Oldham’s target-man types – Joe Garner, Mike Fondop and Joe Quigley – and their somewhat wayward speedster, Kane Drummond.
Last season, in Bradford City’s promotion, Kavanagh’s goal return didn’t leap off the page. He scored in six of his 31 league starts, for nine league goals total at 0.33 goals per 90. But Kavanagh should get credit for being part of a well-functioning attacking unit and helping the team thrive after Andy Cook’s injury in January.
Kavanagh doesn’t always make finishing look easy, but he does understand how to get into good shooting positions, creates chances for team-mates and works his nuts off out of possession. He’s already played over 5,000 career minutes in the EFL at just 22 years old, but will be one of Oldham’s youngest players outside of loanees, and should make a positive impact in the short, medium and long term.
🟠 Lewis Warrington (CM) - [Walsall - Tranmere] - Free
Birkenhead lad Lewis Warrington returns home, signing a contract until 2028 with Tranmere after mutually agreeing to end his time at Walsall. This’ll be 23-year-old Warrington’s second spell with Rovers. He had his first loan away from Everton with the club back in 2022.
A move back to familiar surroundings could be just what he needs. Warrington has ability, but has already passed through Fleetwood, Plymouth, Leyton Orient and Salford prior to signing for Walsall at the start of the season, with some clubs taking to him and others not sad to see him depart. Tranmere fans themselves have been less than enamoured with their current midfield. Local lad Warrington gives them somebody they can get behind.
💬 10:30 - No luck about this one. Here’s George Elek on Yellows’ new man
🟢 Christ Makosso (CB) - [Luton - Oxford] - Loan (with option)
Makosso won Luton’s Young Player of the Season award in 24/25 despite only arriving in January, and was arguably Matt Bloomfield’s best player in their very good run in the last couple of months of the campaign, which saw them very nearly pull off the great escape.
With more onus on his ball-playing capabilities, or lack thereof, in League One, and often surprisingly deployed at right-back, his stock has fallen since the summer, but this move makes sense.
With Oxford getting an aggressive defender who’ll bring some much-needed pace and athleticism to their back line, he is also suited to playing on the right side of either a centre-back duo or trio. Makosso is raw but has high potential, and the option gives them the power to retain him if he thrives under Bloomfield once more.
1️⃣3️⃣ 10:29 - Answer…
Yeah it’s Crawley. Obviously. With 13! Surely they’ve got to add another to move off such an unlucky number.
⁉️ 10:25 - Quiz question… Which EFL clubs have made the most signings so far this transfer window?
💬 10:20 - And another from Gab on the new Stevenage man…
🟠 Joe Knight (CM) - [Brighton - Stevenage] - Undisclosed
Brighton has been a happy recruitment destination for EFL clubs in recent years, especially in the loan market.
Since 2019, they’ve loaned out 86 players, of which about 58 (67%) were successes at their feeder clubs, making the Seagulls something of a packed shopping centre for the 72, who are increasingly opting for permanent moves for their category B prospects.
One of those is 20-year-old Joe Knight, who has played half of the games for their Under-21s this season and made his first-team debut against Leeds in November, with an injury-time cameo.
From observers, however, come mixed reviews. Some believe he’s been one of the U21s’ standout players over the last 12 months, while others feel he hasn’t quite kicked on from his excellent form at U18 level, which suggests inconsistency.
After all, if he had kicked on exponentially, he wouldn’t be attainable for Stevenage, who have paid a six-figure fee for his services.
Billed as a tall and competitive presence with boundless energy, the box-to-box midfielder should fit the Boro ethos, but he’ll have to be patient with Jordan Houghton, Harvey White and Dan Phillips ahead of him in the pecking order.
With White attracting attention, this could be looked back upon as smart succession planning from DoF Leon Hunter and manager Alex Revell.
Yet, tempting as it is to apply extra ‘Brighton credit’ to an EFL signing, we’re not quite ready to go all in on this one just yet.
💬 10:15 - Over to Huw Davies where Cardiff aren’t being ‘left’ behind…
🟢Calum Scanlon (LB) - [Liverpool - Cardiff] - Loan
Cardiff’s squad is the envy of most League One clubs, but they chose not to address its only real gap last summer – left-back – and now, at last, they do. That’s no slight on Joel Bagan, who is having a superb season. He has, however, played a hell of a lot of football in it. Last weekend’s draw with Burton was only the third of Cardiff’s 35 league and (non-Trophy) cup games that the Irishman didn’t start. That he still came on at half-time for a booked Ronan Kpakio, having had to replace a booked Dakarai Mafico (now on loan at Yeovil) after 35 minutes of the only other game Bagan started on the bench, shows how his understudies have struggled in the role.
So, an alternative at left-back was required and Brian Barry-Murphy has snaffled a top-tier loanee to do the job. Scanlon, 20, is quick, attack-minded and technically excellent, offering creativity with more than just crossing. He briefly looked exciting on loan at Millwall last season – briefly, because he suffered a stress fracture in his back and then a serious hamstring injury, each setback ruling him out for four months. Between the two, Scanlon impressed in his two starts and slammed home a great finish against… Cardiff.
💬 10:10 – Ali Maxwell on two League One loanees… Port Vale have been doing their ‘big shop’.
🔴 Elijah Campbell (CB) - [Everton - Port Vale] - Loan
Vale have let one centre-back – Jesse Debrah – leave and brought in Tyler Magloire, and now Elijah Campbell, in his stead. The 21-year-old lefty seems most suited to LCB in a back three, but Vale have switched to a back four under Jon Brady, and Campbell will likely have a tough time getting in front of Hall in the starting XI.
He has good size and build, with decent athleticism and a willingness to play, but Campbell’s previous loan spells have been tough. He suffered relegation with Fleetwood in League One and then Ross County in the Scottish Premiership. He’ll have to channel the spirit of the biblical Elijah and contribute to a miracle if Vale are to survive.
🟠 Martin Sherif (ST) - [Everton - Port Vale] - Loan
Vale bought the Sherif, after letting go of Devante. Or something. Sherif’s loan spell at Rotherham was frustrating. He scored on debut, and against Bradford, but couldn’t stay fit and rarely played more than 45 minutes when he was.
He showed more inside the 18-yard box than he did outside it, but his reputation within the youth system at Everton suggests a player with plenty of potential if he can manage the physical load and keep progressing. Will this Sherif shoot Vale to survival? The jury is out.
❌ 10:08 - Not one we cover in depth, but Sverre Nypan’s loan to Boro has just been terminated. Maybe he goes elsewhere?
💬 10:05 - Let’s start with the League One movers over the weekend. Here’s Gab Sutton on Hatter’s latest acquisition.
🔴 Devante Cole (ST) - [Port Vale - Luton] – Undisclosed
Devante Cole has carved out a high-profile EFL career, representing several sizeable clubs, though it has not always felt fully earned.
Since emerging from Manchester City’s academy in 2014, the 30-year-old has had 10 separate stints at EFL clubs. Only Fleetwood and his second spell at Barnsley can really be classed as successes, although he did also enjoy a productive period in the Scottish Premiership with Motherwell.
Cole’s reputation as an elite youth prospect has done a lot of the heavy lifting. England caps up to U19 level and pre-season exposure with Manchester City’s first team under Manuel Pellegrini opened doors that his senior performances alone may not have.
There have been clinical spells along the way – 100 career goals across all competitions underlines that – but that output has often been offset by periods where he has looked languid, inconsistent and unreliable.
Whether or not reports of him downing tools at Port Vale are accurate, he arrives with baggage. And that is the issue. Luton need a cultural reset after a disastrous two-and-a-half years. Bringing in an enigma like Cole does not feel like a step towards establishing the foundations they so clearly need.
🗣️ 10:03 – We’d love to chat…
The rhythm of the window is very much a crescendo. It starts slow. Builds up. Gets busy later.
So if you have any questions for us this morning, or want to share any live (ideally credible) rumours, then give us a shout. Starter for 10: Deal Sheets…
💬 10:00 — We go again!
Sam Parry: The January transfer window, which “slams shut” at 7pm, ends in February, and experience tells us there’ll be plenty of deals done after the deadline.
Our 18:00 live show will rattle through the late drama, with any truly mega-late moves covered tomorrow in a final round-up of every completed deal.
But before we get into any of that, let’s take a look at the done deals from over the weekend….
DCFC forum reckons Smodzics and potentially Utrecht LB Murkin done / close. John Eustace sneaking up on the league.
The Norwich hoping to get a "6" done today - and maybe a right winger. Liam Gibbs to go out on loan if the midfielder does get sorted, likely to Scotland