Best value goal contributors
The most effective striker acquired in January since 2011/12 was Papiss Cisse, who joined Newcastle for £12 million in 2012 and immediately delivered 13 goals that season - as well as two assists.
His cost per goal/assist of £800,000 just pips the £733,000 of Everton's 2011/12 signing Nikica Jelavic, who found the net nine times but didn't contribute an assist following his £6.6m move to Goodison Park.
Gabriel Jesus made a big impact when he arrived at Manchester City for £32m last January, scoring seven times and setting up four other goals - at a cost of just under £3m apiece.
Fourth in the list is Southampton's £17m signing Manolo Gabbiadini, who managed four goals at £4.25m each.
Papiss Cisse, Newcastle 11/12, £12m
13 goals, 2 assists
Cost per goal/assist £800,000
Nikica Jelavic, Everton 11/12, £6.6m
9 goals, 0 assists
Cost per goal/assist £733,333
Gabriel Jesus, Manchester City 16/17, £32m
7 goals, 4 assists
Cost per goal/assist £2,909,091
Manolo Gabbiadini, Southampton 16/17, £17m
6 goals, 4 assists
Cost per goal/assist £4,250,000
Research compiled by BetBonusCode
Does not include free transfers
It will be interesting to see if the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Edin Dzeko, who can be backed at 1/7 and 1/4 to join Arsenal and Chelsea respectively this month in Sky Bet's array of transfer specials, will be able to have a similarly strong impact this season.
Midfield heroes
In terms of the best value midfielders, that honour goes to Crystal Palace’s Jason Puncheon as he managed four goals and one assist for the rest of the season following his January move in 2014 at £440,000 each.
Former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho scored three goals and set up five others in the remainder of the 12/13 season but the cost of those, in this study, comes in at £1,625,000 meaning he's second on the list.
Jason Puncheon, C Palace 13/14, £2.2m
4 goals, 1 assist
Cost per goal/assist £440,000
Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool 12/13, £13m
3 goals, 5 assists
Cost per goal/assist £1,625,000
Andros Townsend, Newcastle 15/16, £15,700,000
4 goals, 2 assists
Cost per goal/assist £2,616,667
Juan Mata, Man United 13/14, £44,730,000
6 goals, 4 assists
Cost per goal/assist £4,473,000
You'd have thought Alexis Sanchez will be able to make his presence felt at Manchester United although the straight swap nature of his move will make the cost per goal/assist hard to calculate.
Keeping it clean
Scott Dann is the best defensive winter signing after helping to deliver five clean sheets in 2013/14 following his January arrival for just under £2million.
Scott Dann, C Palace 13/14, £1,830,000
5 clean sheets
Cost per clean sheet £336,000
Liam Ridgewell, West Brom 11/12, £2.4m
6 clean sheets
Cost per clean sheet £400,000
Martin Olsson, Swansea 11/12, £4.6m
4 clean sheets
Cost per clean sheet £1,150,000
Nacho Monreal, Arsenal 12/13, £10m
5 clean sheets
Cost per clean sheet £2m
January Blues
Premier League clubs have historically wasted nearly £30 million over the past five years on players who never even set foot on the pitch that season. Chelsea top the list with their 2012 acquisition of Lucas Piazon for £7.5 million and he didn’t play a single minute that year.
Related football links