No blame game is required over the sale of Leo Ulloa to Leicester.

Nobody can blame Ulloa, 28 this Saturday, for wanting to play in the Premier League, earning himself a big pay increase in the process.

Nobody can blame Albion for letting him go to Leicester.

They have negotiated well to get an £8 million downpayment, rising to a potential £10 million with add-ons. There is never anything to be gained from holding back a player's career.

But let's not pretend the man from Argentina will not be missed. Of course he will.

Some absolute rubbish has been written about Ulloa on social media in recent weeks.

Reading it you would have thought he never scored a goal or put in a shift for the Seagulls.

These blinkered critics must have suffered amnesia.

Have they forgotten the ten goals he scored in his first 20 games against the likes of Arsenal, Cardiff and Crystal Palace?

Or the 16 goals he contributed last season, when his victims included his new table-topping employers, Hull and QPR, despite missing more than two months with a fractured foot bone?

Have they forgotten how he relentlessly led the line alone through the middle, occupying two centre-halves?

And have they forgotten how often he was back inside his own box heading away a corner or free-kick?

The persistent moaning at referees over the buffetings he received and the occasional flashes of Latin American temperament were a little irritating but that was a small price to pay for Ulloa's massive contribution to consecutive top six finishes.

What matters now is how Albion go about compensating for his departure.

It does not neccessarily have to be a like-for-like replacement. That may well not be the case now that Sami Hyypia is in charge and the emphasis has shifted marginally towards a more pacey, high-tempo style.

Ulloa's goals and general contribution have to be replaced somehow. Ashley Barnes and company did a pretty good job during his injury absence last October and November, when Albion still managed to accumulate 15 points from nine matches.

Now it is up to Craig Mackail-Smith, newcomer Chris O'Grady and the one or two strikers Hyypia is yet to sign to fill the void. The chances of mounting a serious challenge again pretty much depend on it.