Traore arrives, Rodriguez, Igor and JWP depart

So Adama Traore has finally arrived from Fulham for £2 million. We've got him cheap because he's 30 and out of contract at the end of the season, and for all his speed and power he's not produced enough end product. But the signing makes sense in many ways. Adama is tremendously fast with a good shot, which is an area the Hammers have been lacking. A former Spanish international, he can play on the right or left wing and so can deputise for both Summerville and Bowen or be used as a sub late in games. On his day he can be unplayable and in a relegation struggle he just needs to make the difference in a few games.

It was Nuno who got the best out of Traore at Wolves with 157 appearances and ten goals. He has plenty of experience having played for Barcelona, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Wolves and Fulham. Traore also has arms like tree trunks and with all that bulk and speed you wonder if he might do an Antonio and be converted to a muscular striker.

On the exit front Guido Rodriguez has gone to Valencia for a small fee, saving £75k a week in wages and bringing our quotient of World Cup-winners to nought. Guido never really looked fast or mobile enough to play in the Premier League but should do well in Spain. He actually had a pretty good game when he started at Brighton and remained a good pro throughout his time on the bench and his occasional cameos.

Meanwhile Igor has been returned to sender at Brighton having only started once at Bournemouth and James Ward-Prowse is set to join Burnley on loan. He'll inevitably score a free-kick on his debut. JWP's exile from even the bench by Nuno remains strange, though WHU do have younger faster midfield options in Fernandes, Potts and Magassa. However, we'll look a bit silly if his set-pieces keep Burnley up.

Lucas Paqueta is likely to leave soon and loan deals are rumoured for Spurs keeper Kinsky and Chelsea's Axel Disasi so there should be plenty more action before the window closes.

Just sold my house to James Ward-Prowse...

More good news is that James Ward-Prowse is returning from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest, where he's been stuck on the bench all season, bar one assist for an Awonyi goal at Wolves. 

It was baffling why Julen Lopetegui loaned out JWP, a seasoned Premier League performer who scored seven goals and made 11 assists last season. That's a total of 18 goal involvements. True, he might have wanted a more dynamic or speedy central midfielder than steady James, but West Ham ended up with the one-paced Soler and Rodriguez as replacements, who have one goal and one assist between them. Even if Ward-Prowse wasn't going to be a regular starter for Loppy, he would have been a great player to bring off the bench for his free kicks and corners when WHU were seeking a breakthough.

There was no return clause in the loan deal with Forest so the club has done well to persuade Forest to let him go. Presumably Ward-Prowse told them he wanted to return after hardly featuring. Graham Potter seems to appreciate JWP's understated qualities. He's a good pro who trains well, rarely gets injured and never complains when dropped. As the club website says he will add "experience, depth and quality" to the squad. JWP is used to playing with Alvarez and Soucek and Tomas and co must be looking forward to getting on the end of his corners. And someday soon he has to score with a free kick. Ward-Prowse will be like a £30m signing - in fact he was a £30m signing the club seemed to forget about. Welcome home, JWP.

Deals agreed for Maguire and Ward-Prowse

It looks like three signings are on the way now £30m deals ave been agreed for Harry Maguire and James Ward-Prowse, along with the imminent arrival of Edson Alvarez. So it's lucky no-one on twitter has been having meltdowns over the lack of activity in the past few weeks. Ward-Prowse might be 28 but having just watched a video of all his free-kick goals for the Saints he could really add something to the side with his assists and goals. Though given time we might be able to coach him into how to hit the wall rather than score.

It's less easy to see the need for Harry Maguire when WHU have Zouma and Aguerd, plus Kehrer and Ogbonna, but we're getting a player who once cost £80m for £30m and he has a point to prove. Maguire will surely be better in a team that plays deep and has never lost the confidence of Gareth Southgate. He looked a really good player for Hull and Leicester and both Mourinho and Guardiola tried to buy him at that point. His first season at United saw him tighten the defence but after that and his holiday arrest he lost his way and confidence. He'll be under less pressure at a team that wants to finish in the top half rather than win the league. Again he'll add a threat from set-pieces, and like Ward-Prowse is a club captain who can bring some leadership after Declan.

The bad news is that Man City are sniffing around Lucas Paqueta, though his £85m release clause isn't activated until next summer. In a busy morning, Nikola Vlasic has departed for Torino for around £10m. It's another hefty loss on a player who cost £25 million and was a panic buy after Moyes failed to sign Lingard. Despite being a regular sub for Croatia he never looked like adapting to the Premier League in his one season and scored just one-goal against a poor Watford side. We have to hope the new signings are better value.