Preston North End secure deadline day signing as Sheffield United ‘reject’ £25m bid for attacker

After a long and turbulant month of transfer rumours, the January window finally slammed shut at 11pm last night. The Championship has welcomed the likes of Joe Gelhardt, Bersant Celina and Britt Assombalonga back to its ranks, while the Premier League has enjoyed record-breaking spending with names such as Enzo Fernandez, Marcel Sabitzer and Keylor Navas making moves to the top flight.

With the rumour mill now slowing down, we take a look at the latest headlines from the Championship.

Lilywhites’ one deadline day signing

Preston North End welcomed one signing on deadline day as Josh Onomah joined the club on a short-term deal. The midfielder’s contract with Fulham was set to expire this summer but the two parties instead agreed to end it early so he could make the move to Deepdale for free.

The 25-year-old joined the Cottagers in 2019 and made 76 appearances for the club, however he had struggled to make an impact following their promotion to the Premier League. After making only two cameo appearances this season, Onomah will eager to pick up regular first team football under Ryan Lowe, though will have to build up his match fitness first.

The former England youth star joins Liam Delap and Tom Cannon as their January signings and became their fourth free transfer of the season alongside Ben Woodburn, Robbie Brady and David Cornell.

Sheff Utd ‘reject’ £25m bid

Sheffield United were able to keep hold of key man Iliman Ndiaye on deadline day after rejecting a £25 million bid from Everton for his signature, according to Sky Sports. The Toffees reportedly made the offer earlier in the window and the Blades continued to play hard ball until Sean Dyche’s side were forced to give up in their pursuit.

After netting ten goals and providing seven assists in the Championship this season, United did very well to avoid losing Ndiaye in January but are likely to face another major challenge if they were to fail to win promotion to the top flight. Though their position 12 points inside the Championship’s top two probably made a move to relegation-threatened Everton less tempting for the striker.

Meanwhile, the Toffees failed in their pursuit of a forward despite being linked with a number of strikers including Coventry City’s Viktor Gyokeres, Reading’s Lucas Joao and Blackburn Rovers’ Ben Brereton-Diaz. The Merseyside outfit are yet to replace Richarlison, who joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.