Austerity measures order of the day as clubs balance their books

In the same way the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have resisted the urge to spend tens of millions this January, almost every deal in the Yorkshire region has either been a loan move or one where no money has changed hands.

The principal moves involving our clubs have been those seeking pastures new, though other big names decided the leap wasn’t for them – at least for now.

Billy Sharp swapped second bottom in the Championship for second top, compounding the uncertainty at Doncaster Rovers by joining Southampton for £3m.

It was only a serious ankle injury that prevented Sharp leaving the Keepmoat Stadium for St Mary’s in the summer and, after being courted by Leicester City for much of the January window, his head was turned by the prospect of leading the line in a Premier League side next season.

Similarly, Ricardo Vaz Te, who engineered a move to West Ham United from Barnsley on deadline day for an undisclosed fee.

And there was, of course, the departure of Jonny Howson, whose switch to Norwich City for £2m sparked scenes of mutiny at Elland Road against not only the management of Simon Grayson but the regime of Ken Bates, who seemed hell-bent on balancing the books.

It remains to be seen whether the short-term acquisitions of Fabian Delph, who returns from Aston Villa, and Adam Smith, the exciting England Under-21 prospect from Tottenham, can plug the gap. Many believe not.

But there was comfort to be had in clinging on to Robert Snodgrass, who was eyed up by Blackburn Rovers at the eleventh hour yesterday, and Ross McCormack, who was wanted by Wigan.

There would have been few more relieved to see 11pm last night than fans of Huddersfield Town after the phenomenal interest in 29-goal frontman Jordan Rhodes.

If you had told them he would still be in the Terriers line-up come February after eight Premier League clubs scouted him in the 6-0 win at Wycombe on January 6, there surely would have been astonishment.

Huddersfield’s promotion rivals in League One were content with their lot.

In Sheffield, all was fairly quiet with United bringing in Marcus Williams from Reading, Will Hoskins from Brighton and keeping hold of James Beattie as experienced back up for Ched Evans and Richard Cresswell.

Over at Wednesday, the only money spent was on Bury’s Mike Jones, although the loan signing of John Bostock from Spurs, and the arrival on free transfers of goalkeeper Stephen Bywater and defender Miguel Llera may prove to be more signficant.

They did miss out yesterday on Ben Marshall, who opted to join Leicester City rather than make his loan deal at Hillsborough permanent.

It was almost as quiet at Hull, with director of football operations Adam Pearson making clear there would be no big money spent despite the team pushing for the Premier League.

They brought in goalkeeping back-up and trimmed their squad with loan deals, making up a sizeable chunk of the deals involving Yorkshire teams.

As did Bradford City, though the small amount of money from Luke O’Brien’s move to Exeter City on deadline day came too late to sign more reinforcements to strengthen their battle to avoid relegation.

Middlesbrough twisted in the Championship promotion poker race, raiding Coventry City for Lucas Jutkiewicz in a £1.3m deal but, like Rotherham United in League Two, precious little business was done. Barnsley snatched Leyton Orient captain Stephen Dawson, as well as a tried and trusted professional in Stoke’s Michael Tongue and a young starlet in Norwich’s Korey Smith for the remainder of the campaign.

The lack of spending in Yorkshire was indicative of the national trend, with just over £40m spent overall, a massive decline from last year’s record of £225m.

With all Premier League spending now monitored by UEFA as part of the fair play dictat, the leading clubs were reluctant to open the chequebook.

There was nothing comparable to the massive amounts splurged on Fernando Torres, Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez last year and perhaps a surprise in that the biggest fee came at Newcastle United, £10m for Papiss Demba Cisse.

Cynics might argue it is the consistently abysmal performances of Torres and Carroll that have taught clubs not to pay such unsustainable figures, but much more likely is a fear of UEFA sanctions if they spend beyond their means.

And the new spirit of thrift seems to have rubbed off on clubs further down the leagues.

In these testing economic times, owners appear more conscious of their business interests and the predominance of free transfers and loan moves this January bears this out. It does seem that the football landscape, pushed in the last decade to great heights of spending under foreign investment and ownership, may finally have reached a plateau.