Five most intriguing signings of the January transfer window

Craig Fowler picks out the most interesting deals from the Scottish Premiership in the January transfer window.
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Greg Stewart (loaned from Birmingham City to Aberdeen)

Stewart’s decision to swap Rugby Park for Pittodrie was an odd one in the eyes of this football observer.

Ryan Gauld joined Hibs during the January transfer window. Picture: SNSRyan Gauld joined Hibs during the January transfer window. Picture: SNS
Ryan Gauld joined Hibs during the January transfer window. Picture: SNS

The attacker spent last season at Aberdeen and endured the worst individual campaign of his Scottish top flight career. Largely played on the right of midfield, and bewilderingly deep at times, he failed to make much of an impact in what was otherwise a successful campaign for the Dons.

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This term he signed on loan instead for Kilmarnock. Operating through the centre and largely given a free role, Stewart produced arguably the best five-month period of his footballing life as his goals fired Killie into the title race.

When it came time to deciding whether he should stick with Steve Clarke, the manager getting the most out of his talents, or return to work under Derek McInnes, the 27-year-old picked the latter.

Stewart himself admitted he hadn’t been able to give his all for Aberdeen last year. A succession of holidays in the off-season caused his fitness to drop and he struggled to find his footing afterwards. He did mention “unfinished business” when questioned about his return. Though it doesn’t make too much sense to cite unfinished business when you’ve decided to leave one club halfway through a once-in-a-generation title race. You can’t get more unfinished than that.

Perhaps Stewart looked at Aberdeen, just a couple of points behind Killie in the table and in the race themselves, and thought the one thing missing was the talents of Greg Stewart.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see if Stewart is able to maintain his Kilmarnock form or whether he picks up where he left off at Pittodrie. The decision could earn or lose him thousands of pounds with his contract at Birmingham up this summer.

Oliver Burke (loan from West Bromwich Albion to Celtic)

The intrigue around this signing isn’t so much from a Celtic perspective but more from a Scotland one. It wasn’t so long ago we looked at Oliver Burke - broad, 6ft-plus, searing pace - and hoped he was Scotland’s elusive answer to a genuine world class attacking player to match up with the other small nations who’ve produced such talents: Dimitar Berbatov, Gareth Bale etc.

Since his first couple of months at RB Leipzig, which were promising enough, he’s slid down the footballer ladder. Now it seems highly unlikely he’s the answer to our prayers and will join an endless list of tartan-clad, prospective virtuosos who fail to make their mark on an international stage.

Celtic doesn’t represent his final opportunity to turn our collective dreams into his reality - incredibly, he’s still only 21 - but failure to shine in the Scottish Premiership, having struggled to force his way into an English Championship outfit, will not bode well.

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Parkhead is the perfect place to elevate a young player, as witnessed by the improvements in Stuart Armstrong, Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie in recent seasons. Brendan Rodgers is a truly terrific coach. His teaching combined with the nature of being a Celtic star - adored by 60,000 fans, playing in a harsh spotlight without much chance of failure - can help confidence grow exponentially. Whether rightly or wrongly, it also boosts a player’s profile and, in the ignorant eyes of managers down south, gives his accomplishments credence if he’s doing it in a Celtic (or Rangers) shirt compared with everyone else in the Scottish game.

Put succinctly, this is perfect place for Burke to bounce back.

Ryan Gauld (loan from Sporting CP to Hibs)

Like Burke, Gauld is another who hasn’t had the best of times since making a big-money move.

It’s been almost five years since Gauld swapped Dundee for Lisbon but the time in between has been mostly populated by truncated loan spells at various clubs around Portugal.

The intrigue around this deal mainly centres around the question: how good is Ryan Gauld? He was excellent across the course of his first full season at United but his form, even this Gauld enthusiast can admit, did drop off in the latter half of the campaign. So much so that he came off the bench while Ryan Dow started in the cup final.

Seeing as Sporting were never satisfied with their investment, was he ever that great to begin with? Even if he was, has he lost some of that due to diminishing confidence? If he hasn’t, what’s his ceiling? Will he be one of the best players in our league? Or will he be just another name?

The early signs are positive. He impressed against Motherwell despite Hibernian’s defeat in Neil Lennon’s final match, while his second half showing at Paisley helped turn the game in his side’s favour. But those are just two games and a lot of those questions are still to be definitively answered.

Jermain Defoe (loan from Bournemouth to Rangers)

Rangers certainly seem to be pushing all their chips into the pile in an attempt to halt Celtic’s ten-in-a-row bid at number seven. While they’re only loan signings, Defoe and fellow EPL veteran Steven Davis will not come cheap. There is a feeling the Light Blues are, at least partially, mortgaging their future to try and take advantage of Celtic’s stagnation in the league this season (as much as a stagnation can occur when you’re still six points clear).

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Putting all that to one side, it’ll be interesting to see how Defoe fares in the Scottish top flight over the duration of his 18-month stay. In his prime he’d have battered in at least 30 league goals every season up here. At 36 that’s no longer a guarantee.

His place in the starting XI isn’t assured either. Rangers have largely played a 4-3-3 this season. Seeing as things have rarely gone according to plan when Steven Gerrard has moved away from it, that’s what they’ll likely play going forward. Not only is Defoe not suited to playing in such a system - he never has - he won’t be able to usurp talisman and prized-asset Alfredo Morelos in the starting XI.

It undoubtedly improves the Rangers squad as a whole and gives them a different option off the bench of they’re chasing a game. Will that be enough to justify whatever percentage of his wages the Ibrox club are paying? That remains to be seen.

Niall Keown (Partick Thistle) loan swap deal for Steven Anderson (St Johnstone)

Glass half-empty or glass half-full?

Are St Johnstone shipping out a club stalwart for someone who has been dreadfully poor for a team currently second bottom of the Scottish Championship? And are Partick Thistle bringing in a player who is well past his prime in order to get themselves away from safety?

Or are Saints bringing in someone with prior top-flight pedigree while Thistle are recruiting exactly the sort of personality and leadership their squad needs at the moment?

Keown looked like a star in the making during his initial loan spell at Firhill prior to his signing being made permanent. His form has subsequently dropped off a cliff in the resulting 18 months, but who’s to say that the right manager and situation won’t bring the best out of him again?

As for Anderson, his legs appear to have gone at Premiership level, but we’ve seen countless stars through the years drop down a division and prolong their careers.

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Furthermore, it’s of little risk to either side. Neither Anderson nor Keown were going to play much regardless. If each side has failed to improve their squad with this deal then it shouldn’t make too much of a difference.