Everything you need to know about Albion and the January window

Saturday's win against Everton at the Amex took them onto 25 points in the first game of the second half of the campaign.

That is four points more than they had at the same stage last season and ten points above the bottom three.

There are also four clubs between them and the Premier League relegation zone who are six to ten points worse off.

Here is what is in store for the Seagulls this month.

When does the transfer window open and shut?

It opens at one minute past midnight. The shut-off is 11pm on January 31.

What happened last January?

Jurgen Locadia arrived from PSV Eindhoven for a then-record fee of around £14 million.

The strike options were strengthened further by the return of Leo Ulloa (above) on loan from Leicester.

Can we expect significant business again?

Unlikely. You can never say never, but manager Chris Hughton has stated on several occasions he expects Albion to be quiet in terms of incomings.

Why?

Because they were busy again in the summer.

Their trading was in double figures in number of players in the first window after promotion and it was the same story again.

Owner-chairman Tony Bloom, as a rule, dislikes the New Year sales rush.

How successful have the summer signings been?

Hughton has gradually integrated another batch of buys from top leagues throughout Europe.

The benefits of this patient, settling-in approach are now bearing fruit. The matchday squad against Everton contained seven of the new faces.

Eleven were not at the club when Albion won promotion, an indication of how they are evolving.

Potential targets?

If an opportunity is there to seize a player they have been tracking, Albion will try to take it.

They like Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke, for example, and have been monitoring his progress, although they face widespread competition.

The appointment of Dan Ashworth as technical director from the spring, having occupied the same role with the FA, could see a move towards identifying young talent in the domestic market with an eye to the future and the club's continued development.

Where needs strengthening?

Albion are pretty well covered in all areas of the pitch with two players, and in some cases more, fighting for each position.

In In goal they have Mathew Ryan, David Button and Luke Steele, in the full-back positions Martin Montoya (above), Bruno, Bernardo and Gaetan Bong.

Dan Burn becomes the fourth centre-half today, joining Lewis Dunk Shane Duffy and Leon Balogun.

Burn was bought in the summer and loaned straight back to Wigan to recover from injury and get back up to speed in the Championship.

He has made 14 appearances for them since October and is likely to make his debut in the FA Cup third round tie at Bournemouth on Saturday, when Hughton will make wholesale changes.

In central midfield the manager can choose from Dale Stephens, Davy Propper, Pascal Gross, Yves Bissouma and Beram Kayal.

In wide areas he has Locadia, Solly March, Anthony Knockaert, Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Jose Izquierdo, through the middle Glenn Murray and Florin Andone.

Anything missing?

They would ideally have more competition and cover for Gross for creativity purposes from a central position.

There was no natural replacement for the German when he was injured, although he has become less of a No.10 in the recent adjustment to a 4-3-3 formation.

Wigan's Nick Powell was a target in the last January window.

Who could leave?

Ezequiel Schelotto and Markus Suttner (below) are obvious candidates.

The Argentinian and Austrian full-backs are in the 25-man Premier League squad, but they have not featured at all and there is no prospect of that changing.

Several under-23s prospects could depart on loan to broaden their education.

Contenders include central defender Ben White, prolific striker Aaron Connolly and, depending on the injury and availability situation with the first team (Izquierdo and Jahanbakhsh in particular), Viktor Gyokeres.

The versatile Swedish attacker was on the bench against Everton.

What happens in the rest of Europe?

It could be relevant, considering Albion's Premier League trading pattern.

The window is the same in France and Germany, but it does not open until tomorrow in Spain.

The Italian version is abbreviated, from January 3 to January 18.

Will new signings appear across the Premier League immediately?

No. Clubs have agreed that no new players registered at the beginning of the window will be allowed to play in Matchweek 21 between January 1-3, in Albion's case West Ham away tomorrow night.