Chelsea splashed out €5.4m on a former League of Ireland player on Deadline Day

One of Chelsea's deadline day signings had a brief flirtation with the League of Ireland.

As the transfer window drew to a close, Chelsea completed the signing Reading centre-back Michael Hector for £4m (€5.4m approx), although under the terms of the deal, he has been loaned back to the Royals for the remainder of the season. Despite being the just 23-years-old, the defender has had a whopping 11 spells out on loan, including time with non-league clubs Bracknell Town, Havant & Waterlooville, Horsham and, what will interest Irish fans, Dundalk FC. Hector aka "The Man Mountain" made his Dundalk debut in a friendly against Cliftonville at Solitude in 2011. The Jamaica international made his competitive debut for the club coming on as a substitute in the opening day league clash with Shamrock Rovers, which finished up 1-1. At 18, Hector went on to make a further 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice and even earned a club Player of the Month award. Both his goals came during a 3-0 win against Galway United. Although Dundalk had hoped to extend Hector's loan for the rest of the season, he was forced to return to Reading after suffering a knee injury. His profile is still up on Dundalk's official website (see below)