Hughton not worried by lack of signings so far

Albion boss Chris Hughton admits it has been tougher to add to his squad so far this pre-season '“ compared to previous years '“ because of the money involved in the Premier League.
Chris Hughton. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)Chris Hughton. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)
Chris Hughton. Picture by Phil Westlake (PW Sporting Photography)

The Seagulls tied up their business quickly last summer but have added just midfielder Pascal Gross and goalkeeper Maty Ryan to their squad since last season ended.

Hughton is keen to stress he is not frustrated Albion have not made more signings and also added he already has a strong squad to work with.

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The Seagulls are currently on a week-long training camp in Leogang, Austria, where the players have had three training sessions some days.

Speaking about trying to bring in players now, compared to in the Championship last summer, Hughton said: “It is tougher because we’re going through a period now where the levels have increased dramatically – when you look at what players are going for now.

“If it’s a Premier League team, the money goes up, so what we’re finding is the levels in play now have certainly increased dramatically.

“We all have to work together as a team, that’s myself, the head of recruitment, the CEO and the chairman and we have to do what are the right deals for the club. This club is not at the level yet where we can go out and spend big, big money. But it’s money clubs who have been in the division for many years will now be paying.

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“We know which players we can get and know which players are out of our limit.”

Hughton added he has not got a set number of players he wants to bring in and feels transfer business will continue to run until the end of the transfer window on August 31.

He said: “We know we are going to be in a very competitive league. We know we have to add to our squad to try to be as competitive as possible to make sure we have a good enough season to stay in the Premier League.

“We are continously assessing. Sometimes there are targets we have, sometimes players become available that make you make decisions. We’re not putting a number on it but we will want to be competitive to make sure we are in this division again the following season.

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“I’m sure transfer dealings will be going on right through to the last week of August. I don’t think that will be just us, it will be everybody.

“Players might become available that make you think about a position in the team and that’s normal in football. But I’m keen to say we’ve already got a competitive squad and some teams haven’t brought any players in.

“We finished last season with a good squad and we didn’t have four or five loans that we’ve got to replace or, like the season before, three or four players that were out of contract and that we needed to replace.

“It’s been a good pre-season so far. The feeling’s good. We are not even a week-and-a-half into pre-season, so there’s still a long way to go.”

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