Bournemouth concluded a frantic summer of business with the signing of Glenn Murray from Crystal Palace for an initial £3m, with the forward bringing to a close a successful stint at Selhurst Park to sign a three-year contract.
Murray, who had moved to Palace under freedom of contract after leaving Brighton in 2011, scored 31 goals in 2012-13 as the club were promoted before cruelly rupturing his cruciate knee ligaments in the first leg of the play-off semi-finals against his former club.
The forward endured a lengthy rehabilitation but, after a prolific spell on loan at Reading at the start of last season, returned to Palace and scored seven times in 15 league appearances during the run-in last term.
He fell down the pecking order after the arrivals over the summer of Connor Wickham from Sunderland and Patrick Bamford on loan from Chelsea and will now pursue first-team football with Bournemouth.
“Palace are still progressing but for me, personally, I’m ready for a new challenge,” Murray said. “The interest from Bournemouth has been around a while and, when a club shows interest and a manager obviously wants you, it is always nice.”
The fee for the player, who turns 32 later this month, will rise by a further £1m if Bournemouth survive in the top flight this season, and another £1m if they retain their status in the elite for a further year. The club, who have lost Max Gradel for up to six months after the summer signing from St-Etienne suffered a serious knee injury against Leicester, have brought in Joe Bennett on loan from Aston Villa until January as cover for two injured full-backs, Tyrone Mings – who is out for three months – and Charlie Daniels – out for one – both with knee injuries.
Palace’s willingness to part with Murray reflected a desire to trim their squad on the final day of the window, though their inability to secure either Charlie Austin from Queens Park Rangers or Leonardo Ulloa from Leicester City ended up scuppering Dwight Gayle’s move to Norwich City.
The former Peterborough United striker had agreed a four-year contract to move to Carrow Road for an initial £8m, potentially rising to £9.5m, but will now remain at Selhurst Park. The breakdown of that switch in turn wrecked mooted moves for the Norwich forwards Lewis Grabban and Gary Hooper to Bournemouth and Fulham respectively.
The Palace captain Mile Jedinak, who has been reduced to a bit-part role this season, could not agree personal terms with Stoke City as he sought around £60,000-a-week though his club-mate, Adlène Guedioura, did secure a move back to Watford.
The Algeria international, who enjoyed two loan spells at Vicarage Road last season, signed a three-year contract and cost around £2.5m to become the promoted club’s 15th addition of the window and third of deadline day.
The teenage Belgium under-21 striker Obbi Oularé, a product of Lille’s academy, moved from Club Brugge to Watford for an undisclosed fee on a five-year deal, while the Colombian forward Víctor Ibarbo, who spent six months on loan at Roma last season and has been capped 15 times, has been signed from Cagliari on a season-long loan.
Watford have loaned the defensive midfielder Miguel Layún to Porto, with a view to a permanent £4.4m move, and the defender Gabriele Angella to QPR.
Norwich sold the midfielder Bradley Johnson to Derby County of the Championship for an initial £6m, potentially rising to £7.5m. “His experience will prove invaluable to us,” Paul Clement said of the 28-year-old. “He knows how to get out of this division, he has played a lot of Premier League football and is a leader.”
