Preston North End swindled £10m in January deadline deal with West Ham | OneFootball

Lilywhites fans still probably cannot believe the Hamemrs came in for Jordan Hugill for such a price

January deadline day often delivers some of the most peculiar transfers, but West Ham United's capture of Preston North End striker Jordan Hugill stands out as one of the strangest with hindsight.

Hugill has long been a reliable performer in the Championship, having played for a number of second-tier clubs.

After making his mark in various levels of non-league football, he began his EFL career at Port Vale.

During his brief time in Staffordshire, he netted five goals in 24 appearances, which caught the attention of Preston, who signed him in the summer of 2014 after he found the back of the net against them on New Year's Day that year - a game in which North End won 3-2.

Acquired for a modest £25,000 fee, Vale ensured they included a 20% sell-on clause, something that - in hindsight - proved to be a shrewd piece of business from the Staffordshire outfit.

Over his four years at North End, Hugill impressed, but even he may have been taken aback by the fee he was eventually sold for in January 2018, and to the level he moved up to.

Despite spending the previous year in League One with Vale, Preston decided to send him out on loan in the 2014-15 campaign, with the striker sent out to hone his trade at Tranmere Rovers and then Hartlepool United.

It was at the Monkey Hangers where he was most successful, netting four goals in eight games to conclude the season.

The following term saw PNE return to the Championship, marking Hugill’s breakthrough campaign. The forward featured in 32 games, amassing 1,087 minutes and scoring five goals across all competitions.

Over the next 18 months, Hugill established himself as a crucial player for Preston and netted 20 second tier goals in 71 games.

This was a solid, though not extraordinary, tally, which made it all the more surprising when a well-established Premier League side like the Hammers decided to secure his services.

Jordan Hugill's £10 million move to West Ham ended up being fantastic business for PNE

Entering deadline day, David Moyes' West Ham wanted to make one final addition up top with Diafra Sakho departing for Rennes, and they opted to sign Hugill from North End.

As is often the case with late January deals, Moyes ended up paying well over the odds, with West Ham shelling out £10 million to do the Scotsman's former club somewhat of a favour when it was all said and done, by swoopign for a striker who simply didn’t justify that price tag.

Preston North End fans were stunned by this unexpected windfall, and it quickly became apparent to his new club that Hugill was little more than a Championship-level striker.

The attacker spent his first six months at the London Stadium largely confined to the bench, managing just 22 minutes of football across three appearances. This trio of games proved to be his only outings for West Ham, with each appearance effectively costing an average of £3.33 million.

The following years saw him head out on loan with Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers, his destinations. His time at the Hoops was particularly successful as he played alongside Eberechi Eze, managing to bag 15 goals in all competitions during the process.

Eventually, his torrid two-and-a-half years at West Ham came to an end as recently relegated Norwich City offered £5 million for his services. This was duly accepted, and the Hammers would have been delighted to escape his clutches with just a £5 million net loss.

The subsequent seasons were unkind to Hugill, who now finds himself plying his trade with Rotherham United in League One, a far cry from his brief spell in the Premier League.

North End of course cashed in on Hugill at a time where they were in the mix for the Championship play-offs, and they had lost just one of their previous 13 matches at the time of his exit.

In the end, PNE missed out on the top six by two points, and if Hugill had stayed, or if Louis Moult wasn't such an underwhelming replacement, then it could've gone differently.

Not wanting to stand in his way of a crack at the Premier League though, the Lilywhites reluctantly cashed in - and it was probably the best piece of business they've done in the 21st century.