My understanding, is that your understanding is completely wrong, at least in the case of Conway. Conway was there for us on a plate, but Oscar didn't want him. Then right at the end of the window, he changed his mind, but only once Conway was committed to Blackburn.
Sami said when he joined, that he had watched (on tape, obv) a lot of last season's matches - and had come to his conclusions about what needed to change.