A quiz question for Norwich City fans: of the new signings made by the club in the January transfer window, why does that of Onel Hernandez stand out?

Answer: Because he is the one who went from rumour mill to reality.

That's not to say he wasn't on City's list and was signed on the back of a paragraph or three in a local newspaper. No, this was real investigative work by the person who snapped someone having dinner with City head coach Daniel Farke. Two and two was put together and the immediate outcome, Collin Quaner, was ruled out and Hernandez was swiftly ruled in. The calculation was, at it turned out, correct.

The other new boys? Well, they appeared very late on the radar. Those who play certain computer games will perhaps say otherwise, given their immense knowledge of footballers others have never heard of. But Dennis Srbeny, Moritz Leitner and Marcus Edwards were late to the party.

Kenny McLean had been mentioned but returned to Aberdeen on loan anyway.

That's pretty good going on City's part given that signings are increasingly unsurprising. So, while City were waiting for us all to correctly ID a target (or not) we were left to find other sources. Some are trustworthy, some are not – you only have to read the headlines on certain websites and then read the story to know which can be trusted.

Adding in a bit of logic helps too – for example, Shrewsbury striker Jon Nolan was rumoured to be a City target. Given Shrewsbury have taken City players on loan, it seems a reasonable assumption to make that Nolan could have been part of an agreement.

Den Haag right-back Tyronne Ebuehi was rumoured, but interest disappeared when Benfica stepped in. Here's a clue, from Farke, on City's interest: 'When we speak about the Den Haag guy it is well known he plays right full-back and that is something we have to think about longer term.'

For the record, a few others who featured in rumour mills were: Sam Morsy (Wigan), Reise Allassani (Dulwich Hamlet), Jordan Jones (Kilmarnock), Ashley Fletcher (Middlesbrough) and Sam Field (West Brom).

• Watch Farke's response to the Hernandez rumours in late December in the video above