6 eye-catching winter signings from the rest of the continent

When a winger who averages three goals a season over 10 years at Spurs moving on loan to Everton is arguably the biggest move of deadline day, you know it’s time to cast the net a bit wider in the hunt for some transfer excitement.

Luckily there were a few juicy pieces of business around the rest of Europe to not only catch the eye, but allow us to fill a 300-word story with:

1. Enzo Perez, Benfica to Valencia

Perez was thrust into the wider footballing consciousness when he replaced injured Angel Di Maria for Argentina’s World Cup semi-final and final.

A knock-on effect of that was his move to Valencia at the start of January for the tenth-highest fee ever received for an Argentine.

His arrival provides the Spaniards with the holding midfielder they so sorely need in their challenge for a top-four spot.

2 & 3. Seydou Doumbia Victor Ibarbo CSKA Moscow and Cagliari to Roma

The Italians rolled the dice up front in bringing in a pair of fleet-footed, athletic strikers from Russia and Serie A respectively.

Doumbia is arguably the more renowned frontman, having scored 61 times in just 95 games for the Moscow club. With Ibarbo likely to be backing him up from the bench, the Giallorossi have added some serious firepower to their Scudetto bid.

4. Manolo Gabbiadini, Sampdoria to Napoli

Staying in Italy, Rafael Benitez snared one of the country’s most highly-regarded youngsters for a snip at a reported €13m.

The attacking midfielder had been in superb form for Sampdoria this season, scoring eight goals in 14 games, and has continued that immediately at the Stadio San Paolo, bagging a first Napoli goal in just his fourth appearance for the club.

5. Xherdan Shaqiri, Bayern Munich to Inter

That Roberto Mancini managed to add the Swiss winger to his Inter Milan renaissance was a considerable feather in the manager’s cap considering leading Premier League lights were sniffing around at the same time.

With Arsenal’s Lukas Podolski also arriving at Inter, the former Manchester City tactician has a serious goal-threat lining up on either wing, as Shaqiri proved with a debut strike.

6. Mattia Destro, Roma to AC Milan

As Roma clearly had striking targets in mind over the winter, the 23-year-old was always going to be squeezed out of the Italian capital.

Deciding to stay in Italy, where the transfer window provided plenty of intrigue, Destro decided to team up with Alessio Cerci at the San Siro to try and help Milan, currently ninth, further up the table.

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