5 takeaways from Hibs transfer window debrief as free agents not ruled out and lid lifted on Lyndon Dykes

Hibs sporting director Malky Mackay has broken down the transfer window at Easter Road - and been left pleased with the business conducted.

The key figure behind the scenes in Leith has addressed the window with club media after Jamie McGrath, Raphael Sallinger, Josh Mulligan, Thibault Klidje, Miguel Chaiwa, Grant Hanley, Daniel Barlaser and Zach Mitchell all arrived. There was a pursuit for Birmingham City striker Lyndon Dykes on deadline day but despite that not coming off, it was an overall successful window where quality over quantity was sought.

Mackay addressed several topics in a wide-ranging interview around many of the moves Hibs made. Here are five of the key takeaways from the breakdown.

Rolls Royce arrival

The first bit of business Hibs conducted was McGrath, arriving on a pre-contract from Premiership rivals Aberdeen, and Mackay hasn’t hidden from how highly he rates the midfielder. He said: “We got Jamie McGrath signed up and I was delighted and couldn't wait for him to arrive on day one of pre-season. He's exactly as I thought, an absolute Rolls Royce of a professional.

“Someone who has come in here, hit the ground running, knows Scottish football, is an international footballer and really has been someone that is the glue that joins the three areas together in the pitch, between the defence, the midfield and the forwards. So I'm delighted that we got that one done.”

Swiss League raids

One area that Hibs shopped in was the Swiss market, Chaiwa arriving from Young Boys and Klidje from Young Boys. There’s a key reason why Hibs have gone there for players, Mackay explaining: “Thibaut and Miguel Chaiwa have come in, both from Switzerland. I think that league is one that I find reasonably close [to Scotland] in terms of the intensity and also they've certainly got really good technique there as well in that league. But I think that's a league that's very similar to Scotland.

“Thibaut has come in and scored already, which is great. And him and Miguel have actually come in and settled really well. They've come in the last few weeks and let the group understand that they've been around it and the boys have brought them in and made it easy for them to adapt. So, I'm delighted with their contributions so far as well.”

Injury forces deadline day move

Barlaser has arrived in midfield on loan from Middlesbrough, and while there are several options in that area, an injury to Alasana Manneh sparked that late deal. Mackay said: “We've had an injury to Alasana Manneh in midfield and we just felt we needed maybe something else in there and then Dan Barlaser came up, who's incredibly experienced. We did a bit of phone calls on him to find out character because, again, I don't want to bring people in here if they're not good people, if they're not a good character, if they're not fitting into the Hibs way of life and they're not going to pull on that badge.

“When we find out that he has got a professionalism that sets him to be the leader in the run about the middles and has played so much football at a high level in England, it was one that we just weren't able to turn down. It was very easily and very quickly done with Middlesbrough. They were excellent to deal with and very professional and it was something that I was delighted to get done.”

Why Lyndon Dykes didn’t join Hibs

There was a blunt answer from Mackay on what went down between Hibs and Birmingham City over Dykes negotiations. He said: It's quite well known we had our conversations with Lyndon and Birmingham and we didn't manage to get them yet. It's as simple as that. Some you do and some you don't. We didn't at the end of the day. So we move on from that.

“We have got a good squad. I'm delighted with the squad that we have got here for the first half of the season. We have a leaner squad but a much stronger squad than maybe when I walked in here a year ago. We didn't have to do the amount of transactions that we did last summer because we were gradually, I suppose, filtering down to a squad that the manager wants everyone that's here.”

Hibs free agents a possibility

Like they did in signing Dwight Gayle last year, Hibs could yet sign some free agents. Mackay added: “There's also that frees market that's out there just now as well. And we picked up well from that last year with Dwight Gayle. And we will look at that to see if there's anyone there that we feel is someone that could add to our group. I believe that I need a high bar to come into this football club and play for our first team.

“That has to be that high bar. So we'll see if anyone manages to attain that. And if they do, and we talk to them and we feel that they could help our first team in any way, then that's something we'll definitely look at as well. But I'll reiterate, to get anywhere near a first-team jersey at the football club right now, you'd better be at that level.”