Hull City were the most active Barclays Premier League club on transfer deadline day - but it was Manchester United's loan signing of Radamel Falcao which proved the headline grabber.

While Steve Bruce brought Abel Hernandez, Mohamed Diame, Gaston Ramirez and Hatem Ben Arfa to the KC Stadium, United had to work into the small hours to finalise the signing of the Monaco striker on a season-long loan.

Despite details of the move emerging early in the day, United had to have an extension past the 11pm deadline to ensure the necessary documents were correctly filed with the Premier League.

They eventually announced Falcao's signing, which has an option to make the move permanent, at 1.30am, a deal which took United's summer spending past £150million.

By that time, Arsenal had confirmed United striker Danny Welbeck had joined them, for a reported fee of £16million, after Falcao's arrival made his chances of regular first-team football even more remote.

And the presence of the Colombia international at the club's training complex late on Monday also spelled the end for Javier Hernandez, who earlier in the day joined Real Madrid on loan with a view to a permanent move.

United will pay Monaco between £5million and £6million for Falcao and will cover his wages, although they insist reports they will pay the 28-year-old almost £350,000 a week are wide of the mark.

"I am delighted Radamel has joined us on loan this season," said manager Louis van Gaal.

"He is one of the most prolific goalscorers in the game.

"His appearance-to-goal ratio speaks for itself and, when a player of this calibre becomes available, it is an opportunity not to be missed."

The grand total spent in the summer window comfortably exceeds a new high of £800million and while the majority of that was spent by those chasing Champions League football, Hull made a serious statement of intent in the closing hours.

Manager Bruce started by bringing in Hernandez from Palermo in a club-record deal thought to total £9.5million, added fellow Uruguay international Ramirez on a season-long loan from Southampton and also persuaded West Ham midfielder Diame to pen a £3.5million deal.

But the Tigers were not finished there and sprung a late surprise by making a move for the Magpies' out-of-favour playmaker Ben Arfa.

He was pictured high-fiving fans as he arrived at the club and, having secured an extension beyond the initial 11pm deadline, Hull finalised the move for a player who had been frozen out at St James' Park.

"Thankfully everything has come together, but the one that has come in the last few hours was Ben Arfa," Bruce told Sky Sports News HQ.

"Whatever's happened at Newcastle has happened. He wants to come here and play and get his career kickstarted again.

"Hopefully I can bring the best out of him and we can reignite him."

Bruce had earlier sanctioned the sale of George Boyd to Burnley, who also secured Chelsea's Nathan Chalobah for the rest of the campaign.

Champions Manchester City were not in the market for new signings but did let two first-teamers leave.

Striker Alvaro Negredo, who scored 23 goals in his maiden season at the Etihad Stadium, has returned to Spain in a season-long loan at Valencia, who will then complete a permanent deal for around £15million.

Defender Micah Richards, the club's longest-serving player with 245 appearances to his name, has also admitted defeat in his attempt to impress Manuel Pellegrini by signing on loan at Serie A side Fiorentina until the end of the campaign.

QPR's bid to sign Fabio Borini from Liverpool collapsed despite the clubs settling on an initial £10million fee with the Italian failing to agree personal terms.

Rangers boss Harry Redknapp was also frustrated in his attempts to bring Jermain Defoe back from Toronto but was reunited with midfielders Sandro, signed from Tottenham on a three-year deal, and Niko Kranjcar, who took a large pay cut to join on loan from Dynamo Kiev.

Spurs immediately replaced Sandro with Montpellier's Benjamin Stambouli.

Borini now looks set for an extended period on the Anfield sidelines, but Brendan Rodgers did send Sebastian Coates and Oussama Assaidi out on loan to Sunderland and Stoke respectively.

The Black Cats also added Ricardo Alvarez from Inter Milan until the end of the season, with Modibo Diakite released and Valentin Roberge loaned to Reims.

Southampton's turbulent transfer window wrapped up with further additions, highly-rated Atletico Madrid centre-back Toby Alderweireld in on loan and Salzburg's £10million-rated forward Sadio Mane penning a four-year deal.

Saints terminted the loan of Inter's Saphier Taider less than a month after his arrival.

Crystal Palace signed James McArthur from Wigan for a deal understood to be pushing £7million, plus Kevin Doyle on loan from Wolves and sent Glenn Murray to Reading.