Hughton delighted with the firepower at his disposal

Chris Hughton reflected on a pleasing January transfer window as Albion boosted their attacking options.
Leonardo Ulloa. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Leonardo Ulloa. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Leonardo Ulloa. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

After failing to land a striker in the summer window, Jurgen Locadia joined the Seagulls for a club record £14m fee from PSV Eindhoven midway through January and Leonardo Ulloa returned to Albion on loan from Leicester earlier this week.

Reports suggested Brighton had a couple of bids turned down for Wigan midfielder Nick Powell on deadline day but Hughton would not be drawn on the subject.

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Speaking at his pre-match press conference for Saturday’s home match with West Ham, Hughton said: “What we have ended up with is really good options in the forward department, which is the area we wanted to strengthen and the area we wanted to have more options to play, on the bench and in the squad.

Connor Goldson. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Connor Goldson. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Connor Goldson. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

“Overall, we’re very happy with the squad we’ve ended up with.”

Asked about a move for Powell, Hughton said: “The best policy for us is to always comment on business we have done. There were numerous players we would have been interested in right throughout this window.”

Hughton had said at the start of January that Albion were looking to get a defender in to allow them to send Connor Goldson on loan.

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Asked if any potential defensive signing was close, Hughton said: “Not as close as we would have liked.

“We did a lot of work and looked at lots of options and spoke to lots of agents about potential players.

“What was most important was if we were going to bring somebody in to allow Connor Goldson to go out, then he at least had to be at Connor’s level. Connor was always aware of that one but it had to be right for us.

“Fortunately for Connor he’s played more games in this last period that he had done.”