Nathan Jones says Albion are in a “good place” after the transfer window and were never in danger of losing key players.
The Seagulls rejected multiple bids during the final days of trading from arch-rivals Crystal Palace for Leo Ulloa and Liam Bridcutt and from Burnley for Ashley Barnes.
They made no further additions to their injury-hit squad but are lining up another striker once the loan window opens next week.
Assistant head coach Jones told The Argus: “I think we are in a good place. We had to fend off a few advances for our players but we were quite confident we could do that because they are important players to us.
“We are not a selling club, as we have reiterated over this window. We felt that we had a good enough squad once we have everybody back.
“Obviously, we would like to add a little bit more quality but it’s finding that and we weren’t able to do that at the moment.
“Not everything fitted in to what we wanted so we are happy with the squad we’ve got. Now the two-week international break gives us a chance to get a few back as well and we will be an even stronger squad in a few weeks’ time so it’s turned out well.”
Palace made a £5 million offer for Ulloa and two bids for Bridcutt, the second for £2 million. Burnley tried to buy Barnes three times, their final valuation reaching a reported £500,000.
Jones said: “We have a fantastic chairman and a fantastic club here. They work with us in what we want and what we are looking to do and there was no threat ever of those two (Ulloa and Bridcutt) leaving the club or anyone else at the moment.
“We wanted to keep all of our players, we want to get everyone back fit. That’s the main issue really and we are getting there.”
Jones does not expect the transfer interest to affect Ulloa or Bridcutt (hernia) and Barnes (hip) when they return to action.
The Welshman said: “They will be fine. They are professionals with great attitudes. Obviously, once people make an offer for you, you want to listen to that offer, you want to see what’s out there. That’s natural.
“We spoke to them, kept them updated on everything, so we didn’t keep anyone in the dark. We weren’t trying to hide anything. We’ve made our stance very clear.
“If anyone wants our players they are going to have to come in with something special, because trust our players, we believe in our players, we have the squad that we want.
“There is nobody here that we don’t want here. If we didn’t want anyone we would make efforts to move them on but every player we have here we are happy with.
“We are looking to achieve something this year and to do that we need our good players.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel