Everton seal £13.5m deal for Niasse as Stoke smash transfer record

Everton completed one of the most significant deals on transfer deadline day with the £13.5m signing of Oumar Niasse.

In a move which inevitably raise questions over the long-term future of the much coveted Romelu Lukaku, Roberto Martínez opted to strengthen his forward line rather than address the defensive issues that have undermined his team's ambitions so far this season.

Niasse will complement the Belgian for the rest of the season, but the Merseyside club know they will be fending off interest in the former Chelsea striker come the summer.

Stoke made up for failing to land Saido Berahino by smashing their transfer record for the second time in five months by signing Porto's powerful French midfielder Giannelli Imbula for a fee that could eventually rise to £18m.

Hughes had captured Switzerland winger Xherdan Shaqiri for £12m at the end of August, but was able to splash out again to bring in Imbula, who impressed when Stoke played Porto in a pre-season friendly.

The 23-year-old was developed by Marseille before joining Porto last year and has been made available after the Portuguese club failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Having also been frustrated over Berahino, Newcastle turned to Ivory Coast forward Seydou Doumbia to score the goals to lift them out of the bottom three.

Doumbia arrived on loan from Roma with the option to join permanently in the summer after failing to settle in Serie A following a £12m move from CSKA Moscow in January last year.

Watford rounded off a productive transfer window with the signings of France U-21 midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré from Rennes for an undisclosed fee and highly rated Venezuelan striker Adalberto Penaranda. Both were loaned out to Watford's sister club Granada.

Those heading out of the Premier League included Arsenal defender Mathieu Debuchy, signed for £12m just two years ago, who went to Bordeaux on loan, while Sunderland let Scotland striker Steven Fletcher join Marseille, also on loan.

Swansea also signed Leroy Fer on loan from QPR.

Outside the top flight, Championship promotion challengers Middlesbrough finally signed Jordan Rhodes from Blackburn for £11m after the deal seemed to have collapsed on Sunday.

Deadline day deals

Premier League

Giannelli Imbula, FC Porto - Stoke City £18m

Oumar Niasse, Lokomotiv Moscow - Everton £13.5m

Seydou Doumbia, Roma - Newcastle Loan

Abdoulaye Doucoure, Rennes - Watford Undisclosed

Adalberto Penaranda, Granada - Watford Undisclosed

Leroy Fer, QPR - Swansea Loan

Steven Fletcher, Sunderland - Marseille Loan

Mathieu Debuchy, Arsenal - Marseille Loan

Alex Pritchard, Tottenham - West Brom Loan

Federico Fazio, Tottenham - Sevilla loan

Ebou Adams, Dartford - Norwich Undisclosed

Rhoys Wiggins, Sheffield Wednesday - Bournemouth Undisclosed

Championship

Jordan Rhodes, Blackburn - Middlesbrough £11m

James Tarkowski,

Brentford - Burnley £3m

Irish Independent