The January transfer window can be a funny few weeks in football. Prices of players go up, there are panic buys galore and for many teams, everything stays exactly the same.
It’s a halfway point in the season where clubs get to look at the squad and see what needs changing in order for the season to be a success come the end of May.
With the appointment of Shaun Maloney late last month, the new Hibs manager has only had a few weeks in which to draw up the plans for his new squad. However, the new gaffer has had a fast start to the transfer window, bringing in three new faces with January not even a week old.
Elias Melkersen, Ewan Henderson and Harry Clarke have all signed on the dotted line at HTC as Hibs have shown their intent to retain that third-spot they worked so hard to claim last season.
Other new bodies in the form of summer signings Chris Mueller and Dylan Tait have also joined the rest of the squad after Mueller finished the MLS season with former club Orlando City and Tait ended his six-month loan spell at Raith Rovers.
The Easter Road faithful have spent much of the first half of the campaign dreading the look of the substitutes bench after a few injuries further depleted an already thin squad.
Having five new players to choose from, with potentially more on the way, there may be an element of excitement when the fourth official puts his board up going forward.
The supporters will also be encouraged by the timing of these signings. Barely a week into January, there has already been so much business done by the club, without a lot of time for speculation. Rumours started around all three of these players around Monday and by the end of Thursday they had all been announced as Hibernian players.
This makes a change from recent transfer windows in Leith. A club not known for panic-buying in the past, Hibs have actually brought players in on deadline day in five out of the last six transfer windows, with as many as three players being brought in on three separate deadline days.
It is clear that these players have been brought in to fit into the new manager’s system. Reports are saying that Maloney was immediately very keen on Henderson after working with him whilst they were both at Celtic’s academy.
Melkersen will look to play as centre forward for the most part but he has been known to be deployed on the wings, with his ability to use both feet allowing him to play on either side. A striker who can play wide will also be ideal for the 3-4-2-1 formation that Maloney has deployed in his first couple of games, meaning that the two wingers either side of the striker are able to tuck in and play more centrally, with the wing-backs operating on the outside.
On the topic of wing-backs, the capture of Harry Clarke is also tailor-made for this system. Clarke played both wing-back and centre back for Ross County during his six months in Dingwall. His pace, power and ability on the ball, combined with his defensive awareness and aggression allows him to be capable of carrying play forward from the defence while also remaining solid at the back.
These attributes make him an ideal wing-back for Hibs, going forward he has bagged himself three goals and two assists so far this season. He will also be a strong central defender for the Hibees, particularly in a back three, where he will be allowed to step out of defence on occasion.
Although these signings have been made with the intent to get involved in the squad’s push for European football, all three of these players have lots of time on their side. Melkersen turned 19 in the past week, Henderson will be 22 in March and Clarke is only 20. The Hibs board have the future in mind with all three of these deals and will be hoping that these purchases will mark the beginning of a great period for the club.
An 18-month loan for Clarke, before his deal runs out at parent club Arsenal. A three-year deal for Henderson starting in the summer after an original six-month loan. And finally Elias Melkersen, a hot prospect in Norway, signed up until the summer of 2026 after a reportedly six-figure fee brought him to Leith.
Before this window, ten out of the last twelve players signed in January were either loan players, or given six-month contracts. Three years ago it was Paul Heckingbottom’s first transfer window. Two years ago Jack Ross was in the same position. Shaun Maloney now finds himself in the same spot – however this time, the man in the Easter Road dugout has been backed from the off.
The board are putting faith in the new manager and whether that is in order to achieve big things in the final few months of the season, or it is part of a far bigger project for Hibernian Football Club, we are yet to see.
One thing for sure is, come the end of the winter break, this will be a vastly improved Hibs side compared to the one that went into it.
The East Stand 