With less than a week remaining of the 2017 January transfer window, Shoot! looks back on the month to identify the best buys so far.

With Deadline Day fast approaching (Tuesday, January 31), Premier League leaders Chelsea have completed the most expensive transfer, selling midfielder Oscar to Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG for a reported £60m.

As for the busiest top-flight club in the New Year market, struggling Hull City have sealed five deals so far this month, bringing in the likes of Markus Henriksen (AZ Alkmaar), Oumar Niasse (Everton), Evandro (FC Porto), Omar Elabdellaoui (Olympiacos) and Lazar Markovic (Liverpool).

Despite an influx of new players, The Tigers still sit two points adrift of safety in the relegation zone following Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to the hands of Antonio Conte’s Blues.

Other notable January transfers include full-back Cohen Bramall’s dream move to Arsenal from non-league Hednesford Town, Joey Barton’s return to Burnley, Jeffrey Schlupp’s switch from Leicester City to Crystal Palace and Ademola Lookman’s transfer to Everton from League One outfit Charlton Athletic.

But, who are the Top 5 deals of the transfer window so far? Shoot! picks out the best…

Jose Fonte to West Ham United

Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Captaining the Saints for three years and making more than 250 appearances for the club, including the back-to-back promotions and winning the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Wembley, Jose Fonte has been signed to bolster the Hammers’ defence

Plus, to add his leadership qualities that the club is lacking, after the announcement that centre-back, Angelo Ogbonna, is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Eight million (£8m) seems a very good price in modern day football, but this is because of his age.

West Ham will get no more than two or three seasons out of the 33-year-old, however defence is an area where experience is hugely beneficial.

Last season, the Portuguese international was eighth in the league for the amount of defensive actions. Anyone watching West Ham’s defensive form of late, conceding five goals against Manchester City in the FA Cup third round, will know his service is needed if the club wants to maintain its vision of becoming a Champions League contender.

The Hammers have conceded four or more goals against Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, West Brom and Watford already this season.

Fonte will bring a great deal of defensive stability in his arrival, as he has done so for Southampton in his many years at the club. Partnered with the resolute Winston Reid, the pair should renew faith in the Hammers back line, and remove the defensive mishaps of recent.

They should be a great defensive partnership for the club going forward.

The central defender has also had recent success at Euro 2016, winning the tournament with Portugal. Part of the country’s success was down to the reliability of its defence, particularly Fonte and Pepe’s consistency during the tournament. Although Pepe took many of the plaudits, Fonte was integral throughout.

Lee Grant to Stoke City

The 33-year-old has penned a two-and-a-half-year contract with Premier League side Stoke City for a fee of £1.3m following his move from Derby County.

Filling in for the injured Jack Butland was always going to be tough after a superb season last year.

But, goalkeeper Grant has played excellently between the sticks, especially in a spectacular display acquiring Stoke a point versus Manchester United in a 1-1 draw. Since then, Grant has been an ever-present in the Stoke team, who are currently sitting in 11th place.

Outstanding recent performances have earned him a permanent transfer to the Potters, which will see his contract end in 2019.

Grant has kept six clean sheets so far this season, the sixth best tally in the league, only behind the likes of world renown goalkeepers such as Thibaut Courtois, Hugo Lloris, David De Gea and Petr Cech, as well as Fraser Forster in goal for Southampton, who are always defensively sound every single season.

The ex-Derby shot stopper however has played less games than those above him in the rankings, playing 17 league games so far, those above him playing at least 20 or more games.

The English shot stopper has only conceded 20 goals so far this season, one less than Manchester United’s De Gea and two less than Arsenal’s Cech, both goalkeepers having a far superior defence in front of them.

Morgan Schneiderlin to Everton

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside.

Everton confirmed the signing of midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin from Manchester United on a four-and-a-half-year deal at Goodison Park, in a deal worth £20m.

The Toffees are solid defensively whether it be a four or five at the back formation in which manager Ronald Koeman uses.

The signing of Schneiderlin will give Everton that extra bit of quality lacking in the defensive midfield position. Also, there is now opportunity for Koeman to rest and rotate his defensive midfielders, such as the ever present Gareth Barry, the exciting young prospect of Tom Davies and Idrissa Gueye, when back from the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Frenchman is a high-quality player, and will be a major asset for Everton, with his superb defensive qualities and broad passing range. Given that Everton have been heavily reliant on the always consistent Gareth Barry, having another player who is defensively capable and strong on the ball will be a real boost to the Toffees.

Schneiderlin will hope to rejuvenate his career in Everton colours. The Toffees’ midfield should become more solid defensively with the signing, and strong partnerships will start to form with the likes of Ross Barkley, Davies and Gueye.

Tom Carroll to Swansea City

Swansea City completed the signing of Tottenham midfielder Tom Carroll for a fee thought to be about £4.5m.

The signing of Carroll fell under the radar and those who saw the news were left underwhelmed when the signing was announced. However, his form of late has shown Paul Clement’s signing to have potential of being the bargain buy of the window.

For a player who rarely started for Tottenham and the Swans when on loan two seasons ago, there was not thought given into the fact he could be the man to revitalise Swansea’s campaign and inspire a turnaround in affairs.

However, Carroll has recently shown in the 3-2 win against Liverpool, in which he played terrifically, that there is hope for the Swans’ revival. The victory was certainly a team effort, but he played a huge part.

Swansea have suffered from a lack of tempo and energy in several performances. Carroll however was able to get the ball moving, and by finding pockets of space allowed his team to create attacking opportunities, by showing his ability to read the game and break up attacks, with the little possession they had.

When the game was at 2-2, Liverpool were piling the pressure on, but yet again it was young Carroll, determined to get forward, in this instance who had extremely quick feet to go past two Liverpool defenders to cause a defensive error to set up Gylfi Sigurdsson’s winner.

The 24-year-old played like the tricky midfielder Swansea have been looking for since Joe Allen left the club. He looked rather accomplished in the centre of the park during his second Swansea debut.

Saido Berahino to Stoke City

Stoke have signed West Brom striker Saido Berahino for a fee of £12m on a five-and-a-half-year deal.

With the current climate in modern day football, huge sums of money are being thrown about, so £12m for a talent with the calibre of Berahino has got to be worth the risk.

A lack of match fitness may cause some concern, but manager Mark Hughes has said we shall see him introduced into the team as soon as possible.

Stoke have been unable to find that 20-goal a season striker, with Wilfried Bony and Bojan Krkic failing to live up to expectations, but in Berahino, they may have just found that man.

The signing is an attempt to add a different aspect to Stoke’s game. The Potters tend to play with a target man, with the likes of Peter Crouch or Jonathan Walters spearheading the attack.

Depending on the position Berahino is played, the ex-West Brom man could offer his new club a fast paced and fresh dimension in attack.

In the 2014-15 season, Berahino scored 14 goals in 32 starts for the Baggies at only 21-years-old.

If he can find this sort of form for his new club, it will prove to be a superb signing by boss Hughes.