Why the January window should leave us excited for the summer

As the window closes, Drew Heatley says January might represent a change in tack for the Whites.

It appears the tide may be changing on the banks of the Thames.

Yes, one swallow doesn’t make a summer, and one Oscar Bobb doesn’t make a shift in transfer strategy, but I’m left feeling optimistic about our future activity as the window slams shut (TM) on the January transfer window.

When it was all said and done, we brought one player - the aforementioned Bobb, Man City’s highly-rated grad. And while, on the face of it, that’s not a huge amount of activity, it’s a far cry from our traditional January movements.

Typically, our January movements are about fighting fires; plugging the gaps in our squad to get us closer to our short-term objectives - often with little thought given. The running gag is “break glass for Willian”, and rightly so. But you can add ineffective stop-gaps like Armando Broja and Cedric Soares to that list, among a litany of others.

Before Bobb, we spent actual money just once in January in more than a decade - a reported £8m on Sasa Lukic. That was shrewd in the sense that the writing was on the wall regarding Joao Palhinha’s stay in SW6 - and that writing was German. So, getting the Serb through the door, perhaps earlier than planned, made sense. Before that, it was Kostas Mitroglou - but that was a different time.

The signing of Oscar Bobb was framed as a replacement for Adama Traore by Marco Silva, and what an upgrade. What it also says (to me at least) is that we’re finally looking closer at the market for opportunities. Not just to raise the floor of this squad, but to uncover deals and secure prospects faster than our rivals - and for a better price.

The deal that never was, of course, was Ricardo Pepi. Yes, he had a broken arm, and yes PSV were clearly reticent to do business in January, but we were steadfast in our interest in the USMNT international and saw that through, with the clear ambition to return to the deal in the summer.

Old Fulham might have switched in a panic to a second-choice target, which would’ve been a harder sell and possibly less of a fit. Pepi is clearly earmarked as the replacement for soon-to-be out-of-contract Raul Jimenez. I expect him to arrive in the summer - and with a longer runway to do a deal, plus less time on Pepi’s contract, perhaps we could save a few quid, too.

Elizabeth spoke on Saturday about the elephants in the room: Harry Wilson and Marco Silva, and more specifically, their futures. Our January strategy says to me that Silva’s verbally agreed something with the club.

“Backing the manager” doesn’t just mean splashing as much cash on as many players as possible. It means working with him to identify quality, and securing that early. That’s what it looks like we’ve done. That would address some of Marco’s biggest complaints in recent windows, which could be enough to get him to commit. Perhaps he already has.

Look, this optimistic outlook is, frankly, uncomfortable for me - and presents the very real possibility of leaving egg on my face. But during a window where, traditionally, there is little-to-no value, we have gone about our business quietly, confidently, and - largely - successfully.

Perhaps naively, that leaves me excited. The proof is in the pudding, and that comes out of the oven in the summer. To torture that metaphor further: how sweet would that pudding taste if I’m right? You Whites.