Window ends with a 'weaker and more imbalanced squad'
Questioning recruitment or how well Brighton are run is not really the done thing. Some would even call it sacrilege. Yet their January transfer business has been almost as strange as when David Icke went on Wogan and claimed to be the son of God.Evan Ferguson joins West Ham on loan, leaving Danny Welbeck as the club's only number nine just nine days after Fabian Hurzeler was so short of strikers he played fourth-choice centre back Adam Webster up front against Everton.Neither Joao Pedro or Georginio Rutter have looked comfortable playing at centre forward this season. Good luck if/when Welbeck picks up another injury.Brighton have paid £22m for Greek striker Stefanos Tzimas. He though won't be any use to Hurzeler yet as despite this glaring hole in the squad, Tzimas will spend the rest of the season on loan with FC Nurnberg.Another glaring hole is left back, where Pervis Estupinan is the only natural option thanks to season-ending injuries to Ferdi Kadioglu and Igor. Tariq Lamptey has been forced to do a job on his weaker side with Estupinan also currently injured.That did not stop Valentin Barco being moved onto Strasbourg, just 12 months after Tony Bloom's algorithms were hailed for finding another South American wonderkid.Still, Brighton did spend deadline day trying to add to their squad, pursuing winger Tommy Watson from Sunderland. He would have given Hurzeler just the six wide players to compete for two positions alongside Kaoru Mitoma, Simon Adingra, Yankubu Minteh, Brajan Gruda and Solly March.Other transfer business included adding midfielder Diego Gomez and centre back Eiran Cashin. But despite spending approaching £50m, Brighton have somehow come out of January with what looks a weaker, more imbalanced squad than they started.Interesting times ahead for Hurzeler and the Albion.Find more from Scott McCarthy at We Are Brighton, external
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