The window may have been gently pushed to a close rather than dramatically slammed shut, but Norwich City feel as though they had a near-perfect month of transfer activity.
In a window where cash was limited due to the effects of Covid-19 and new Brexit regulations came into force, Norwich still managed to strengthen their squad and retain their prized assets. Despite plenty of noise, Emi Buendia remains a City player until at least the summer.
City moved to recruit three players as they continue their push for promotion back to the Premier League.
With Xavi Quintilla's fitness issues, City turned to Greek international left-back Dimitris Giannoulis to fill the void left by Jamal Lewis' departure in the summer and to free Jacob Sorensen from the shackles of an unfamiliar position.
The 25-year-old joined City on a loan to buy deal from PAOK earlier this month, and showed glimpses of his quality during his debut against Middlesbrough. Giannoulis will sign for the club should they achieve promotion to the Premier League for a fee of around £6.2million.
Michael McGovern's hamstring injury left Stuart Webber searching for a goalkeeper. With free-agent options limited and loans unlikely due to the club being unable to promise game time, the Canaries swooped for former Aston Villa goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.
The 28-time Norweigan international has been a name on the Canaries' list of targets since he was playing for Ingolstadt in Germany. City received a strong character reference from Villa prior to signing him and believe he can provide real competition for number one Tim Krul for the remainder of this season.
Despite Nyland joining on a short-term deal, the hope is that he can prove his worth until May and then both parties will reassess their options in the summer, with a view to extending his stay beyond the summer.
Finally, City added young Bolton Wanderers midfielder Regan Riley to their development squad for a six-figure fee.
The 18-year-old describes himself as a 'box-to-box midfielder' in his signing quotes to the club, and the Canaries fought off interest from Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion to secure his signature. Riley made his senior debut for the Trotters in the EFL Trophy against Shrewsbury Town earlier this season.
In terms of outgoings, City still couldn't shift out-of-favour duo Moritz Leitner or Josip Drmic, despite late interest from the Championship in the Swiss international forward.
Huddersfield Town did make a late enquiry to take the 28-year-old on loan for the rest of the season, but an agreement couldn't be reached. Birmingham City showed interest earlier in the window, but opted to sign Aberdeen forward Sam Cosgrove over City's frontman.
Interest in Leitner was quieter, although he was reported to have received some proposals from the Austrian Bundesliga, that market remains open for another 6 days. Drmic had been linked with a return back to Switzerland. Their window closes in 13 days time.
Meanwhile, despite all the noise, Buendia didn't trade Carrow Road for the Emirates. The only red he saw came during City's draw with Middlesbrough at the weekend.
In a window that Farke described as 'near-perfect', Norwich City have achieved all they set out to do. Now, the only thing that remains is gaining promotion back to the Premier League.
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