Hot on the heels of scoring a double hat-trick against Charlton’s Under-21s, Jonathan Obika has joined Brighton on loan from Tottenham.

Obika made a good impression at The Valley last season and many thought he would return for another stint in South London.

This will be the third time that Obika has linked up with Nathan Jones, the pair were together at Yeovil prior to Jones’ move to Charlton.

Another player who was on Charlton’s radar in the summer, Alan Judge, has joined League One leaders Brentford on loan. Judge re-joined Blackburn from Notts County but he has been a peripheral figure at Ewood Park since his return.

Astrit Ajdarevic remains the only January arrival at The Valley, though goalkeeper, Yohann Thuram, looks certain to join on loan in the next few days.

Neither signing will get the fans’ pulses racing and Chris Powell may not be able to bring in the calibre of player he wants this month. He poured cold water on hopes of a spending spree in an interview with the London Evening Standard.

Owner, Roland Duchatelet, will not be investing heavily in the transfer market. Powell explained the situation like this:

“I’m sure everyone is looking at it and thinking it’s going to be about spend, spend, spend but it won’t be that.

“He (Duchatelet) has taken everything into consideration, financial fair play, what the club are doing commercially and what we do with our Trust and our supporters. He is immersing himself with everything.

“He wants us to do well and he wants to build on what we’ve done. He has recognised that it has been harder for us this year financially, budget wise and player wise.

“But he also knows that there are other issues to deal with and I’m very confident that he will deal with them. He wants to learn about the football club quickly and I just see it as a positive move.”

As Powell has previously stated, he will have to be ‘creative’ in his recruitment policy. Loans, swap deals and Standard Liege’s fringe players will be the areas the manager will have to look to, as he seeks to freshen his squad up for the second half of the season.