ALBION boss Brian Horton is on the brink of completing his squad rebuilding.

With the big kick-off less than five weeks away, just one piece is missing from the Horton jigsaw.

"I would have liked a proven goalscorer," he said. "But you try getting them There are hundreds of defenders and utility players, but a minimal number of strikers. That's what everyone is looking for and if you have got a good one you don't let them go out of contract."

Proven goalscorers don't come cheap. The problem has been exacerbated this summer by the Bosman ruling, which entitles out-of-contract players aged 24 and over to a free transfer.

Players and their agents are trying to exploit the situation by asking for the fee clubs would previously have been obliged to pay in the form of fat signing on fees and vast wage demands.

That's all very well for sought-after stars. They can sit back and wait for the highest bidder.

At Albion's level though it is breeding a level of greed among some players which is out of context with their talent. Many will be left in the dole queue.

Said Horton: "Bosman has made it better for players who are in demand. Good players can literally hold clubs to ransom.

"But players given frees are still really free transfers. A lot of them will not get fixed up because they are pricing themselves out of the market.

"Clubs are having to pay better money to get players so, instead of having 24 on the staff, it might be only 18.

"Brighton have been good in this respect. I've now got 22 pros and 16 YTS boys and I've got scope to bring one more player in within my budget, which I still might do."

The far-reaching implications of the Bosman ruling only partly explains why Andy Ansah has earned a reprieve.

There is more to the game than playing and his chirpy influence in the dressing room last season didn't go unnoticed, especially as a role model for youngsters in the reserves. He is a good pro.

Although Horton's quest for an established goalgrabber continues, he is not unduly worried.

Gary Hart, Richard Barker, Terry Streeter and even Stuart Storer give him a few permutations up front.

"Stuart Storer's had a little op through the summer," Horton revealed. "He was playing when he wasn't fit at the end of last season, which I appreciated.

"It's not as if we are short. Hart has impressed everybody and we are going to give him a chance to show what he can do."

Prolific Hastings Town forward Stafford Browne has a chance to stake a claim when he reports with the rest of the squad for pre-season training in the next 48 hours.

Elsewhere, Mark Walton's arrival restores a choice of goalkeepers following Nicky Rust's departure.

Glen Thomas poses a threat to Gary Hobson and Ross Johnson in the centre of defence, Danny Mills offers width on the left and Paul Holsgrove and Simon Wormull will provide quality support for Jeff Minton in the middle of midfield.

"What I have got now is two people vying for every position," Horton added. "It has created competition which we didn't have last season."

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