Stoke City and Everton were the Premier League's big spenders on a deadline day set to be remembered for Manchester City's confirmation that Pep Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini as their manager at the end of this season.
Giannelli Imbula arrived at the Britannia Stadium from Porto for a fee of £18.3million, smashing the club record of £12m established when Xherdan Shaqiri arrived from Inter last year.
Imbula's acquisition on a five-and-a-half-year contract meant Chelsea's Marco van Ginkel was allowed to join PSV on loan following a fruitless temporary spell at Stoke.
Everton bolstered their forward line by bringing in Oumar Niasse from Lokomotiv Moscow for £13.5m on a four-and-a-half-year deal, but Merseyside rivals Liverpool saw their move for Alex Teixeira collapse.
There were no incomings at Arsenal, but Mathieu Debuchy returned to France to complete the season at Bordeaux, while Sunderland's Steven Fletcher and Newcastle United's Florin Thauvin have also swapped the Premier League for Ligue 1 by joining Marseille.
Borussia Dortmund pledged to return for Osasuna's Mikel Merino having failed to wrap up a deal for the 19-year-old.
Sampdoria signed former Italy international Fabio Quagliarella on loan from Torino and Frosinone defender Modibo Diakite, although they will not feature alongside Vasco Regini at the Genovese club – the left-back joining title-chasing Napoli until the end of the season with a view to a permanent switch.
Torino might eventually fill Quagliarella's void with Lucas Boye, the 19-year-old River Plate forward agreeing a deal that will go through on July 1, while misfiring Augsburg striker Tim Matavz will seek to turn his form around at Genoa.
Nigel de Jong was released from his contract by AC Milan to complete a move to LA Galaxy, Kevin Constant joined Bologna on a free transfer and Fiorentina signed ex-Atalanta centre-back Yohan Benalouane on loan from Premier League leaders Leicester City.
In La Liga, Gary Neville sought to lift Valencia's ailing fortunes with the acquisition of Real Madrid winger Denis Cheryshev and Atletico Madrid left-back Guilherme Siqueira on loan, the latter for 18 months.
Granada made the most of their ties with Premier League club Watford, acquiring the latter's new signing from Rennes, Abdoulaye Doucoure, on loan and retaining Adalberto Penaranda for the rest of the season despite the 18-year-old forward penning a long-term deal at Vicarage Road.
Manchester City have loaned Patrick Roberts to Scottish champions Celtic – who also signed Feyenoord outcast Colin Kazim-Richards – while Bruno Zuculini has joined AEK Athens until June from Pellegrini's side.
Middlesbrough and Hull City bolstered their hopes of gaining promotion to the Premier League with respective moves for Blackburn Rovers striker Jordan Rhodes and Manchester United youngster Nick Powell – the latter moving on loan.
Powell's former team-mate Alex Buttner moved to Anderlecht temporarily from Dinamo Moscow, while Blackburn are boosted by on-loan Sunderland midfielder Jordi Gomez.
Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo had his loan at Ajax cut short and will try his luck with Championship strugglers Charlton Athletic, also home to ex-France international Rod Fanni for the rest of the season.
