January traditionally a busy month for the Seagulls
Of the 33 players who have joined, the likes of Leonardo Ulloa, Anthony Knockaert and Glenn Murray displayed some shrewd business was done. However, signings such as David Rodriguez and David Gonzalez failed to establish themselves at the Amex.
Prior to signing Jurgen Locadia for a club record £14m last week, research revealed that over the past ten seasons, the Seagulls have a net spend of £7m during the winter transfer window, ranking 14th on the list of all Premier League clubs.
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Hide AdNew figures from UK job board CV-Library have found that the “big six” (Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs) are responsible for more than half (56 per cent) of all January expenditure across the past ten seasons, with Brighton contributing less than one per cent.
Looking at the total ten-year spend of any side, Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea have forked out an eye-watering £250m on new recruits since the 2006/2007 season. However, the Blues only have a modest net spend of £6m due to recouping over £240m thanks in part to the sales of the likes of Oscar, Juan Mata and Andre Schurrle.
In comparison, Brighton have spent just under £12m on 33 players, an average of £350,000 per player while they have recouped just over £4m, mostly thanks to the £3m sale of Liam Bridcutt to Sunderland in the 2013/2014 season.
Surprisingly, Stoke City come third in the overall net spend list due to the modest income they have received through player sales. The Potters have sold 28 players to the tune of £11m, an average cost of just £409,000 per player - the lowest of any current Premier League side that has spent a full season in the league and in stark contrast to Chelsea who average a whopping £11m per player sold.
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Hide AdNewly promoted Huddersfield Town have spent and received the least out of all 20 Premier League clubs - the Terriers have dished out £4m on players since the 2006/2007 season, almost three times less than closest rivals, Brighton (£11m) and only six per cent of the average expenditure across the whole league.
Only four Premier League clubs have a positive net spend - Newcastle United substantially lead the way through a profit of over £30million, followed by Watford (£7m), Swansea (£7m) and West Bromwich Albion (£4m).
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director at CV-Library, said: “Becoming a professional footballer is something many youngsters aspire to, so it is interesting for us to be able to highlight just how much the top teams are paying for player transfers in order to better their performance.
"It is however also important to remember how many other jobs are produced which play a part in the success of the footballers in question. Without the support of physios, coaches, trainers and even the caterers, many professional footballers would not be able to reach the heights that they do. For every success story, there is always a team of people behind the scenes that have laid a helping hand.”
Brighton signings in the past ten January transfer windows
2006/2007
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Hide AdBas Savage (Gillingham) Free; Nathan Elder (Billericay) £14,000
2007/2008
Glenn Murray (Rochdale) £405,000; Jonny Dixon (Aldershot Town) £69,000; Steven Thomson (Falkirk) Free; Shane McFaul (UCD) Free
2008/2009
Chris Birchall (Coventry City) Free; Jason Jarrett (Preston) Free; Gary Dicker (Stockport) Free; Craig Davies (Oldham Athletic) £113,000; Jim McNulty (Stockport) £203,000
2009/2010
Chris Holroyd (Cambridge) £72,000; Grant Hall (Lewes) Free; Sebastien Carole (Tranmere) Free
2010/2011
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Hide AdPeter Brezovan (Swindon Town) Free; Inigi Calderon (Alaves) Free; Craig Noone (Plymouth) £324,000; Luc Matutu (Nantes) Free
2011/2012
Kazenga LuaLua (Newcastle) £1,150,000; Brennan Dickenson (Dorchester) Free; David Gonzalez (Man City) Free
2012/2013
Leonardo Ulloa (Almeria) £1,620,000; Emil Asmundsson (Fylkir) Free
2013/2014
David Rodriguez (Celta Vigo) Free; Jeffrey Monakana (Preston) Undisclosed; Dale Stephens (Charlton) Undisclosed
2014/2015
Beram Kayal (Celtic) Undisclosed
2015/2016
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Hide AdAnthony Knockaert (Standard) £3,150,000; Jiri Skalak (Mlada Boleslav) £1,530,000; Richie Towell (Dundalk) Free; Henrik Bjordal (Aalesund) Undisclosed
2016/2017
Glenn Murray (Bournemouth) £3,150,000; Vegard Forren (Unattached) Free
Brighton departures in the past ten January transfer windows
2006/2007
Wayne Henderson (Preston) £203,000; Richard Carpenter (Oxford) Free; George Santos (Welling United) Free
2007/2008
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Hide AdBas Savage (Millwall) Free; Dean Hammond (Colchester United) £338,000; Alex Revell (Southend United) £203,000; Nathan Elder (Brentford) £47,000
2008/2009
Steven Thomson (St.Mirren) Free; Jack Compton (Havant) Free; Scott Chamberlain (Bognor Regis) Free
2010/2011
Graeme Smith (Hibernian) Free; David Livermore (Barnet) Free; Jake Wright (Oxford) Free; Kevin McLeod (Wycombe) Free; Andy Whing (Leyton Orient) Free
2011/2012
Steve Cook (Bournemouth) £162,000
2012/2013
Matt Sparrow (Crawley Town) Free
2013/2014
Liam Bridcutt (Sunderland) £3,290,000; Ashley Barnes (Burnley) Undisclosed; George Baker (Swindon Town) Undisclosed; Adam El-Abd (Bristol City) Undisclosed
2014/2015
Nzuzi Toko (Eskisehirspor) Free
2015/2016
Jeffrey Monakana (Voluntari) Free; Emil Asmundsson (Fylkir) Free; Charlie Harris (Barnsley) Undisclosed; Adrien Colunga (Unattached) Free
2016/2017
Jake Forster-Caskey (Charlton) Undisclosed