The perception of Albion's first Premier League transfer window has been dealt a crushing blow by the deal they did not get over the line, rather than the eight they did.

The absence of a new striker in the 25-man squad which had to be confirmed this afternoon has prompted widespread concern and condemnation.

How different the mood, and judgement, would have been if Florin Andone's name had been on that list, or even Vincent Janssen.

Andone would be an Albion player today but for a penultimate twist in a window in which a Krul was signed but recruitment plans were plagued by cruel luck.

Such are the fine margins between what is deemed to be success or failure during the condensed and complex process of the buying and selling season.

Albion's recruitment method is based on cluster lists. They work on several deals on players of similar calibre for a particular position at the same time, so if one fails they can turn to another.

Andone was high on the striker cluster, but they knew it would take time and they would have to be patient. The deal was dependent on Deportivo La Coruna re-signing Lucas Perez from Arsenal.

On deadline day, when Perez returned to Spain, the arrangement Albion had with Deportivo was duly triggered. The head of the medical department and football administration were despatched to Bucharest, where Andone was on international duty with Romania, to complete the formalities. Everything was agreed.

Then Deportivo's planned signing of Argentinian Guido Carrello from Monaco, again set up earlier in the window, unexpectedly collapsed, wrecking Andone's move to the Amex.

With time running out, Albion turned their attention to Janssen (below) at Tottenham. He did not fit manager Chris Hughton's criteria for the type of striker he wanted as precisely as Andone, but the signing by Spurs of Fernando Llorente from Swansea sparked Janssen's availability.

The Argus: A combination of Albion's strong relationships with Spurs and Janssen's agent, who also represents midfield signing Davy Propper, enabled a deal to be agreed quickly, while Janssen was playing for Holland against France.

 

A two-hour window extension was approved by the Premier League. Everything was in place - then Janssen turned Albion down.

So here we are. Hughton is left with three out-and-out strikers and only one fit one, with Glenn Murray (ankle) and Sam Baldock (calf) sidelined.

Tomer Hemed, in the last year of his contract, would in all probability have been back in the Championship with Reading, or another of the Israeli's several admirers in the second tier, if the forward plans had gone to plan.

Record buy Jose Izquierdo (below) The Argus: can play anywhere across the front line and Izzy Brown at No.10. The shortage is not quite as severe as it seems - but nobody can pretend it's ideal.

Why did Albion leave it so late? Surely the risks rise the nearer the window comes to closing?

Chief exceutive Paul Barber said: "The other way of looking that is that those clubs wanting to sell need to sell. They are often trying to bring in players of their own or they need the cash.

"Yes, of course, the risk goes up but so does the opportunity.

"It's a constant process of re-evaluating the probability, risk and reward. There is no magic formula that makes it a perfect science. In fact, it's a very inexact science, because you are dealing with human beings, egos, agents, people with a whole bunch of different agendas to yours, not necessarily coinciding at the same time.

"The common theory is the longer you leave it the riskier it gets, but often the whole window opens up in the last 48 hours.

"It's not about looking to do a deal on the cheap either. We are not playing a game of poker to force the price down.

"It's about making sure all our opportunities, including ones slightly higher in the cluster than others, are given an opportunity to get done."

The Argus: The striker hunt would, in fact, have been resolved much sooner if Tammy Abraham had chosen Albion rather than Swansea, or FC Zurich's Ghana international Raphael Dwamena (above) had not failed a medical due to a heart condition.

The Seagulls suffered terrible misfortune throughout their first Premier League window. Brazilian midfield target Renato Neto (knee) also failed a medical.

On deadline day, a loan deal for Brugge's Dutch central defender Stefano Denswil, which would have allowed Connor Goldson to get valuable game time at Ipswich, collapsed due to an injury at his parent club .

You make your own luck? Perhaps, or maybe Albion used up theirs last season, when a lot of the fractions went for them.

They certainly cannot be accused of a lack of effort or investment - owner Tony Bloom authorised spending in excess of £40 million and three record signings (it would have been four with Andone or Janssen).

Izquierdo, for example, was one of 874 wide players covered by head of recruitment Paul Winstanley and his army of scouts and analysts.

The number of strikers looked at reached four figures. That is almost 2,000 players for just two positions, across the world.

Three hundred player reports are compiled a week. It is a painstaking, year-round process in which some players are literally tracked for years.

No amount of attention to detail can compensate for the uncontrollable variables. For example, like a wife who does not want to move - which scuppered one deal Albion had in place.

Now much hinges on the managerial acumen of a striker-light Hughton in fashioning enough 1-0 wins to keep them competitive until the window re-opens in January.