Obviously he was just an insurance policy. We were a bit light on forward players once we let Josh King go. I think Solanke was in the middle of another barren spell ( if I recall correctly ) and Surridge was our only other option at the time. I think he was just a low cost replacement for JK and was deemed better than nothing in an injury crisis or emergency during the second half of the season.
Who knows ? Maybe his presence has caused Solanke and Surridge to up their game a bit to ensure they don't lose their place in the match day squad. In that case maybe signing him was a good idea after all ? In his interview when he joined, he came across as a player with a very good character too. Who knows what effect he is having on the rest of the squad ?
But overall I think he was probably just a cheap option to provide cover in a crisis and we all know that forwards don't come cheap. We probably didn't have too many other options at the time, unless that Burnley swap was a genuine option, which I'm guessing in the end it wasn't.