Mathew Ryan carried on where he left off with Albion in Australia's unfortunate opening World Cup defeat by France.

He was consistently dependable in his first season between the posts with the Seagulls.

In fact, Ryan performed almost too well for Albion's own good.

The challenge for the recruitment department season after season is to improve, or at the very least not regress, on what you already have.

That will be particularly difficult to achieve this summer in the goalkeeping group.

When Tim Krul linked back up with manager Chris Hughton last August, the long-serving former Newcastle No.1 would have regarded himself as a strong challenger for Ryan's spot.

Krul hardly got a look-in, because of Ryan's form.

Unless Ryan is injured or suffers a prolonged dip in the standards he has set, it will be the same scenario next season apart from a few games at the turn of the year on international duty at the Asia Cup.

Krul wants to be a No.1 again and hence is looking elsewhere, with promoted Fulham a possible destination.

He would be a genuine threat to Marcus Bettinelli at Craven Cottage. It will be hard for Albion to find a second choice goalkeeper with Krul's pedigree.

The Argus: Meanwhile, Niki Maenpaa (above) has spent the past three seasons at Albion understudying. First it was David Stockdale, now Ryan blocks his path.

The arrival of Krul knocked the Finn down to third choice. He has finally run out of patience and wants to go in search of more game time.

Connor Goldson, now at Glasgow Rangers, found himself in a similar situation to Krul and Maenpaa in the centre of defence, where Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy have blocked his path in the past two seasons.

It is more frustrating for a back-up goalkeeper. They have only one spot to aim at, not two, and the chances of injury absence or rotation call-ups are reduced.

Albion are keen to keep Christian Walton active and maintain his loan progression via a probable return to Wigan in the Championship after he helped them to the League One title.

That makes sense, rather than Walton (below) kicking his heels and waiting for something to go wrong with Ryan.

The Argus: The tricky bit is finding two keepers willing to do just that, with sufficient quality and experience to step into the Premier League and perform as well as Ryan.

David Button, ousted by Bettinelli at Fulham midway through last season, is among the candidates.

Who ever they sign, Albion will be tested to kick-off on August 11 with a trio as capable as Ryan, Krul and Maenpaa.

The Seagulls have done well so far in the summer window. Leon Balogun, based on his CV in Germany and sound World Cup finals debut in Nigeria's defeat by Croatia, looks an accomplished replacement for Goldson.

The patient pursuit of mobile Romanian international striker Florin Andone (below) has paid off, for a price much lower than they were prepared to pay last summer following Deportivo La Coruna's relegation from La Liga.

The Argus: Hughton still needs, primarily, a central midfielder and another central defender. Another wide attacking option is also plausible, hence the rekindled interest in Iranian Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

The market always slows down for a while when the World Cup is on, although the work continues behind the scenes for Paul Winstanley and the rest of the recruitment team.

Albion will not divert from a strategy that has served them well. They put their own parameters on the value of a target and will not engage in a bidding war.

Their valuation of Sunderland's Paddy McNair, for example, is below a reported £5 million bid by Middlesbrough.

They have done more key business at this stage than many Premier League rivals, who have a timeframe shortened by three weeks after the World Cup now that the summer window shuts before the season starts.

Cover and competition for Ryan is not the biggest priority - just the biggest headache.