January is historically a time where Brighton and Hove Albion do little business and the 2017 winter transfer window lived up to that with the only real arrivals being players to provide cover in areas where Chris Hughton's squad is a little thin - and of course the permanent signing of Glenn Murray.

The thinnest area is, as per usual, centre forward - a position we regularly fill with a loan signing around this time of year - where Chuba Akpom arrives from Arsenal. Sam Baldock is out for a few weeks which in Brighton injury terms probably means until the end of the season and so cover up front was absolutely vital.

The only other arrival came in the form of Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori and again that was largely made to deal with the injuries suffered by Bruno, Gaetan Bong and Liam Rosenior which has made us particularly light in the full back areas.

There were few surprises in terms of those who left the club. Jake Forster-Caskey hasn't even had a look in on the substitutes bench for 18 months and he left for Charlton Athletic permanently while Elvis Manu finally left the building, being released after never managing to make the grade despite the club shelling out £1.5m for him.

Rohan Ince added another loan spell to his list with a move to Swindon Town who are fast becoming a motley crew of ex-Albion players while the promising Rob Hunt departed for Oldham Athletic on loan until the end of the season as he looks to continue his development.

Here's who came in and out in January 2017:

OUT:
	Jake Forster-Caskey - Charlton Athletic Sixth choice in line for a central midfield berth, the Albion's youngest ever player had spent the last year on loan at MK Dons and then Charlton Athletic. It came as little surprise then to see him leave on a permanent deal with League One Charlton Athletic the destination on an undisclosed fee.
	Kazenga LuaLua - Queens Park Rangers The winger tweeted he was disappointed not to have got a move in the summer transfer window but this time his wish has been granted with a loan to fellow Championship side QPR. A good thing for both parties - he can play some games and hopefully help take points off our promotion rivals.
	Elvis Manu - Go Ahead Eagles Proved to be an utter waste of £1.5m. The Albion decided to cut their losses, releasing him on a free to Go Ahead Eagles where he has already scored a world class individual goal and been sent off for diving in the same game. Check it out on YouTube, it is fantastic.
	Rohan Ince - Swindon Town Like Forster-Caskey, he has found his first team opportunities limited by the form and players ahead of him in the central midfield positions. Having spent the second half of last season on-loan at Fulham, this time he drops down a division with a move to League One side Swindon Town.
	Rob Hunt - Oldham Athletic The young defender impressed when thrown on away at Burton Albion in September as well as in the stiffs EFL Cup and Checkatrade Trophy games. Now he gets the chance to play regular football with a loan move to League One Oldham Athletic.

 

IN:
	Glenn Murray - AFC Bournemouth If anybody doubted the decision to bring him back on-loan, they were put in their place very quickly. The striker leads the Albion's scoring charts this season and it was an absolute no brainer to tie him down to a permanent deal at a cost of £3m. Thanks for not rating him in the first place, Gus.
	Chuba Akpom - Arsenal With only three strikers, another forward appeared to be an absolute must. Step forward Chuba Akpom. The Arsenal striker offers pace to burn which is something neither of the other frontline strikers do. Has three goals in four England under 21 games and scored three times in 36 for Hull last season.
	Fikayo Tomori - Chelsea Injuries to three full backs meant that the England under 20 international was bought in on loan from Chelsea. Highly rated by the Blues, he is capable of playing anywhere across the back line and will provide cover. Marked his debut in the best way possible with an own goal at Lincoln.

Positives:	Negatives:	Rating:
Glenn Murray. Just a shame it cost us the best part of £6m when you throw in this fee and the money spent trying to replace him with Craig Mackail-Smith. Nice work, Gus. We desperately needed another striker as the jury is still out on whether Murray and Tomer Hemed can play together. Chuba Akpom offers something different to what we have. Fringe players moving on loan gets them game time. Kazenga LuaLua will hopefully help QPR take points off sides around us while Rohan Ince and Rob Hunt both need first team football.	With Sam Baldock currently sidelined, it still leaves us with just three strikers. Could another one have been bought in just to be on the safe side? Christian Walton was having a fine season on-loan at Luton but now finds himself back on the bench. Why not sign a loan goalkeeper to cover for Niki Maenpaa's injury and allow Walton to continue playing first team football?	8.8 /10