One of the largest transfer windows in the A-League's history saw World Cup-scorers, former prodigies, a slew of top-flight talent and a current controversial Socceroo make the competition their new home.

There was even room for the first signing announcement from 2019/20 A-League entrants, Western Melbourne, who snapped up 28-cap Greek international Panagiotis Kone. 

But while high-profile A-League transfers garnered much of the attention, many former and promising foreign-based Socceroos were quietly securing new clubs of their own.

Now that the ink's dried and the paperwork's settled, FTBL recaps every Socceroo January transfer, analysing their career moves and sussing out a few of the low-key swaps you may have missed...

Jamie Maclaren

Not even a maiden Socceroos goal could prevent Macca from garnering significant criticism from the Australian public throughout their underwhelming Asian Cup defence. 

Maclaren notched one strike in five tournament appearances, leaving him with an unimpressive one goal in 13 Socceroo caps. But January ended on a brighter note for the 25-year-old after he secured a lucrative four-year contract back Down Under with cashed-up Melbourne City.

While a young Maclaren had dominated in the A-League - equalling Mat Ryan's record as the only footballer to win the A-League's Young Player of the Season award twice - Maclaren was unable to translate that success overseas. The Aussie's failure to launch with SV Darmstadt was stark, failing to score across seven 2.Bundesliga appearances before securing a loan move to Hibernian.

For his part, Maclaren was honest about the trials of moving overseas, reminding critics that settling into another country is a lot tougher than people think. Unfortunately, not even an English-speaking country and a plethora of Socceroos in the Hibernian squad (Maclaren shared a team-sheet with Mark Milligan and newly-adopted Martin Boyle) could assist him to make Europe his new home.

Now returning to the league he dominated before a rough patch overseas, every Socceroos fan will be hoping he can reclaim some of the lost form, and confidence, which allowed him to score 40 goals in just 53 A-League appearances for Brisbane Roar before his departure.

"I want to win trophies," Maclaren said. "I still haven't won anything in Australia and Melbourne City share my ambitions."