Marc Guehi, Endrick and the 10 best-value signings of the January transfer window

You'd be forgiven for thinking Pascal Gross has spent the last nine years at Brighton without interruption. In fact, he actually left the Seagulls for boyhood club Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2024.

Despite playing 49 times for BVB in his debut season, his minutes dwindled this term and he sought out a return to England's south coast. The Seagulls have managed to bring back an experienced head familiar with the club for well under the £8m ($10.3m) they sold him for 18 months ago.

"Since I wasn't getting much playing time in Dortmund, I wanted to go back to a place where I could have more influence and play more regularly, so I could also put myself forward for the World Cup," Gross said of his return to Brighton.

It's not everyday that a Brazilian starlet is linked with teams such as Bayern Munich and Barcelona but ends up at Bournemouth, though that's maybe a sign of the Premier League's true strength nowadays.

The Cherries, however, have done it again. Having sold off Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City, they have brought in a replacement at under half the price. In Rayan, they have one of South America's brightest prospects, a 19-year-old who has already played over 100 senior games and can play anywhere across the frontline. On his debut away at Wolves, he came up with an assist for Alex Scott and looked right at home in the rough and tumble of the English game.

"I am very happy and very honoured to be here, especially with the sporting project they developed for me. I'm extremely happy. It's a club that develops a lot of talents, so I'm very happy to be here and hope to give the fans a lot of joy," Rayan said upon arrival, no doubt aware he will likely be sold for major profit in the coming years.

Even if you're getting only a handful of minutes for Manchester City as a youngster, the chances are you have enormous potential. Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia and Liam Delap (all now at Chelsea, ironically) are among those who have proven that theory correct in recent seasons.

Next up off that conveyor belt is Oscar Bobb, who many fans were sad to see leave for Fulham. City even held the Norwegian in such high regard and he left with well wishes enough that he did a farewell interview.

"I leave City with nothing but amazing memories and I want to thank everyone for their help and guidance during my time here," Bobb said. "I have been so lucky to be part of such a special football club and to have experienced so many fantastic moments are experiences I will always cherish."

At long last, Marco Silva gets some needed reinforcements for his attack, bringing in a 22-year-old who has Premier League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup winners' medals just itching to play regular football, particularly with Norway's World Cup campaign on the horizon.

It wasn't too long ago that Oleksandr Zinchenko was the player who redefined his position in the Premier League. At Manchester City, he was a clutch-time performer, and he exploded into a superb inverted full-back after joining Arsenal.

Alas, his performances have dipped over the last couple of years and he has now left the Gunners for good. After a quiet loan spell at Nottingham Forest was deemed unsatisfactory by all parties, the deal was cut short so that Arsenal could sanction a cut-price sale to Ajax.

The concern for the Dutch giants is Zinchenko has only penned a six-month contract, though if they play their cards right, he could end up signing on for a longer stay in Amsterdam. He certainly has the technical attributes to become a fan favourite at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

We come to the first of three loans on this list. Not all loans are equal, and to crack our top 10, it has to be a move that actually moves the needle for the team who have acquired the player.

In the case of Champions League-chasing Marseille, they managed to persuade Arsenal to part with Ethan Nwaneri, despite the Gunners long insisting the teenage talent wouldn't be allowed to leave for the second half of the season. But the chance for a player of such potential to work in a more developmental league under Roberto De Zerbi - whose future is now incredibly uncertain - was too good to turn down.

"I think the talented young players that we have need minutes, and in this case, Ethan wasn't having enough minutes, and the last thing that we want is to cut his development because he's such a talent and someone who lives and breathes football; that's his life," Mikel Arteta said. "After discussing it with him, his father, the agent, and the club, we decided the best thing to do was to leave and go on loan.

"Then we have to pick the right place, and having all the options, understand the experience that we had in Marseille as well with [William Saliba], the fact that Roberto is there and he's an incredible developer of young talent and he's a really courageous manager in the way he plays, the way he plays with young talent as well and he has a big track record about that."

Elsewhere in Ligue 1, Lyon won the Endrick sweepstakes. The prodigious striker clearly wasn't a favourite under Xabi Alonso, who was sacked a couple of weeks after his loan to OL was finalised, and needed regular game time to keep his place in the Brazil squad on the eve of the World Cup.

Unsurprisingly, Endrick has proved an immediate hit in France. He already has four goals in four games for Lyon, who are fighting with Marseille for a Champions League spot. Their two teenage loanees could thus end up as the differentials in that race.

"My adaptation has been almost perfect," Endrick recently said. "Since I arrived, the communication with my team-mates and the staff has been excellent. I'm truly grateful for their daily support. I now hope to improve a little more with each match, so that by the end of the season we can achieve our objectives.

"The fact that the club's management came to meet me and gave me their word was significant. I felt their confidence. I've found a really united team here, where there's a real sense of camaraderie, which is important. It's even the most important thing. If there's unity on and off the pitch, things flow more smoothly and naturally."

Having turned 28 in October, it felt like it was now or never for Ademola Lookman to get that move to a massive club his career has richly deserved. He's delivered the goods time after time in three-and-a-half seasons for Atalanta, most famously coming up with the hat-trick that downed the invincible Bayer Leverkusen in the 2024 Europa League final.

The Nigeria international will become the latest star attacker to don the red-and-white stripes of Atletico Madrid at a time where Diego Simeone's side need some sort of inspiration to reignite their season. The fee is far from prohibitive and nowhere near as expensive as some of their other marquee signings.

On the face of this, it's a strange deal for Angel Gomes, who is leaving Marseille only months after joining on a free transfer from Lille. What's more, he's heading to a side who are almost destined to be relegated to the Championship.

That said, there is method behind the madness. Gomes, who has been capped four times by England, finally gets a chance to play regular Premier League football after making only five appearances in the top-flight with Manchester United, while even if Wolves do go down, he could demand a summer move away even if they activate the purchase clause in the deal, flipping the midfielder for a nice bit of profit.

When you lay all of that out, the big losers here are actually Marseille. Is it really worth parting with Gomes for such measly figures?

This will probably be the most contentious entry on the list. Do Manchester City deserve praise for paying £20m for a player whose contract was expiring in the summer? Was it a masterstroke to hand him a deal worth a reported £300,000 a week? Is this all a matter of 'well done for saying the highest number'? After all, this is a 'best value' list.

But that ignores City's intent. They knew they needed defensive reinforcements, particularly after Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol picked up mid-to-long term injuries, and that Marc Guehi was one of the best options for them on the market. What's more, he was the premier free agent heading into the summer, but knew that rivals on abroad had a head start on pre-contract negotiations. Thus, City acted swiftly to get Guehi over the line, instantly improving their defence with a more than proven option.

Guehi's start at the Etihad Stadium has been mixed, but it's easy to imagine him lifting many trophies in sky blue in the long run.

Barcelona are in financial peril at the best of times nowadays. What wouldn't have been welcome to the head honchos at Camp Nou, then, was the surprise exit of La Masia graduate Dro Fernandez for a fraction of his value, and the only possible silver lining is they managed to extract a fee slightly more than the release clause in his contract.

"Dro's departure surprised me. We had an agreement for him to extend his contract at 18, then his agent said that ultimately he changed his mind. It has been an unpleasant situation," said Barca club president Joan Laporta, who will inevitably be feeling the heat ahead of their upcoming elections.

Dro, who impressed in pre-season and was afforded some sparing minutes in the first half of 2025-26, informed Barcelona of his desire to leave at the start of the winter window, putting Europe's elite on alert as they all tried to sell their project to the winger. In the end, Paris Saint-Germain won the race, and agreed to pay Barca a fee above his stated release clause in order to maintain the clubs' cordial relationship.

It's a bitter blow for Barcelona, but a piece of opportune business by PSG. Head coach Luis Enrique said at the contract signing: "Sign here, 50 goals and 50 assists!" It's fair to say hopes are high for Dro.