Albion’s January transfer window was predictably quiet - as the Premier League reined in its spending.

But that need not be bad news for the weeks ahead.

As ever, business done by the club was forward-looking rather designed to patch up current holes.

They are aware several players are on the way back from injury.

At the same time, they looked for an immediate remedy to a current void in their side as they pursued their interest in taking Tottenham winger Bryan Gil on loan into the final afternoon of the window.

Reports from North London suggested Gil was keen to stay and work with Ange Postecoglou.

Equally, it would appear highly likely a certain fee and agreement on wages would have been required to secure the Spaniard’s services for the rest of the campaign.

There were also reliable reports of interest in Leicester midfield Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall during the month.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi still sees Carlos Baleba as a viable midfield option in the Premier League – but not yet.

The same is not true of Mahmoud Dahoud and the free agent who failed to settle in the intense world of the Premier League will recoup Albion a fee of about £9 million if Stuttgart choose to turn his loan into a more permanent deal.

Clubs have often said they do not like to do business in January but then go and do it anyway.

This time they were forced to be as good as their word.

There were three key drivers to the quiet window.

They were a realisation that FFP rules actually have teeth, the fact Prem clubs already owe £2 billion in instalments on old transfers and the lack of activity from Saudi Arabia.

Last year, Albion were happy to bank almost £30 million for an increasingly disinterested Leandro Trossard and, while they retained Moises Caicedo, one wonders whether the jostling for position and talk of big numbers in January helped them land a bumper fee in the summer.

This time, a subdued market was good for Albion, according to football finance lecturer and expert Kieran Maguire.

He said: “They were not looking to sell in the window, which was good as there were no buyers.”

All this developed against a backdrop of De Zerbi saying recently he wanted to cover three or four positions.

It was not clear whether that meant three or four different players and no timescale was given, although it was assumed he meant in January.

De Zerbi will speak to the media on Friday afternoon as he works out how to play a deck of cards still missing a few aces, for the time being.