Have Albion now put together their strongest ever squad?

It is a certainly a good talking point.

Perhaps the question should be: Will this become Albion’s best ever squad – and team?

Graham Potter has no doubt his group is still improving.

And that should mean it has the potential to put the current debate well and truly to bed.

Of course, those old enough will always retain fond memories of the Goldstone.

We may well get another chance to assess current strength in depth when the Seagulls go to Leicester City tonight in the FA Cup.

There will be changes. Maybe not too many.

But it will speak volumes that the players who could come in include two former England internationals and Premier League title winners in Adam Lallana and Danny Welbeck.

Or Percy Tau, the South African star who attracted so much attention during his protracted path from Mamelodi Sundowns to the Amex.

Albion have gone on a good run of late without Welbeck and Tariq Lamptey and with Adam Lallana playing only a fleeting role.

Holland international midfielder Davy Propper has not played much and his impressive compatriot Joel Veltman came into the side as a stand-in.

So there is no denying the depth.

When Graham Potter was asked about his squad ahead of tonight’s cup tie, the theme he went for was the room for further progress.

He told The Argus: “I’m happy with the squad. I think they are getting better and better.

“There is still a lot of room to improve as well.

“Good age. Some exciting players there that are starting their careers.

“Rob Sanchez, the likes of Tariq, the likes of Steven Alzate, Aaron Connolly.

“Then you have got players who are taking steps.

“I think Solly March has had a really good season.

“Obviously it’s a shame for him that he is going to miss the rest.

“But him and Yves (Bissouma) have taken steps, I think.

“I think there is more to come from the group but I’m happy with how it is developing.”

So the best ever? There are probably two obvious comparisons to make in that regard.

They are with the squad Chris Hughton had in his first Premier League season.

And with the old days – 1979-83 – when the Seagulls were previously in the top flight.

Hughton’s group in 2017-18 had been through a lot after two seasons pushing for promotion and the emotional scenes as dreams came true.

There was a close affinity built over time between fans and players, some of whom had partied together when the ticket to the Premier League was secured.

It is hard to repeat that relationship for now given Albion are a team people watch on TV. It will grow again when the stadia re-open.

Albion’s league position and results were on a par then with what we see now but the depth was perhaps less.

The potential to improve and the latent transfer value of the squad were certainly inferior.

It feels like the current group have more yet to produce or more players with great scope to progress.

Of course, there is every reason for a club’s squad to be stronger in its fourth Premier League season than it was in its first. That is probably how it should be.

The obvious difference in that process for Albion compared to most other clubs – or complication, if you like – was the major change in playing style after two seasons.

That in turn led to the club looking at players who, even if not better than those who had gone before, were different.

A look at what seems to be the preferred XI at the moment – before March was injured – shows only four players who had played a league minute for Albion before Potter took charge.

And all of them – March, Lewis Dunk, Pascal Gross and Bissouma – have been playing different roles to greater or lesser degrees.

The comparison with the old days is a harder, more unfair one.

If you are going to pick a season from back then, then the third, which saw the club secure still their best ever final league standing of 13th, is the obvious one.

Is the squad (not XI) now better than it was then?

In general, yes. It is certainly bigger and has greater depth.

But then it has every right to be. There was no bumper broadcast deal back then.

Gate income was nothing like there is now, even allowing for inflation.

With far fewer fans having season tickets, attendances fluctuated dramatically.

Albion averaged 18,000 in 1981-82, most of whom would have been paying terrace prices.

There were several matches when fewer than 15,000 went to the Goldstone.

Clubs were looking for players in a far smaller marketplace – England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, basically.

There was only place to fill on the subs’ bench.

So, of course, the squad was smaller. Albion used 18 players in their 42 league games of 1981-82, including Mike Ring, who played just once towards the end of the season.

Already this term they have got through 25, including one outing apiece as sub for Jayson Molumby and Reda Khadra and three by Andi Zeqiri.

There was real quality, though. Steve Foster, Jimmy Case, Tony Grealish, Steve Gatting, Gary Stevens and the perhaps under-rated Neil McNab in midfield.

You can debate the strength of the respective XIs – and, on league positions, you can certainly give Mike Bailey’s team the edge for now.

(At this point we could also get into a debate over the comparative strength of the top flight then and now, with the increase in foreign stars, and whether 13th then was harder or easier to achieve than 15th now. But that is probably one for a REALLY long away trip when such things are allowed again).

There is a discussion to be had maybe over whether you prefer Christian Walton and Jason Steele over Perry Digweed in terms of back-up in goal.

But there can be no comparison in terms of squad strength, surely. Except, maybe, in one area. At the sharp end.

Back then, up front for the Seagulls, the options were Michael Robinson, Gordon Smith and Andy Ritchie.

Up until mid-November, they regularly started together. From then on, though, it was often top scorer Ritchie and one of the other two.

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Ritchie, previously of Manchester United, and Robinson, later of Liverpool, combined for 24 league goals that season. Smith, in and out of the side, only scored two.

The trio scored 34 league goals between them in 1980-81.

Albion rose to sixth place in December, 1981, and were still in the top half until they lost their last two games of the campaign.

It will be a benchmark for the club if and when an XI plus subs selected from the current carefully-assembled playing staff improve on that. It could happen this season.

For now, in terms of general strength and certainly depth, it would appear that, yes, this is Albion’s best ever squad.

They get a chance to underline that at the King Power.