‘January window: Complete’.

And with that post on Sunderland’s official X (formerly Twitter) account at 11.20pm, the hopes of fans who had convinced themselves the club had one more trick up its sleeve - one last deadline day signing to announce - were dashed.

News just minutes earlier that Eliezer Mayenda had joined Hibernian on loan meant the club must have signed the striker they so desperately needed. Didn’t it?

Well, no. It didn’t.

Sunderland spent the entire January window looking to bring in an established striker to augment the feeble firepower that has held them back in the first two-thirds of the season, but failed to do so.

It would be tough enough to put a positive spin on that, but to then sanction the departure of one of the four frontmen already inside the building?

That added insult to injury.

Sunderland are very much part of the play-off picture but there was no statement signing. Nothing that signalled a serious assault on the top six to get fans excited. The longed-for return of Amad on loan from Manchester United turned out to be nothing more than a mirage.

Everyone knew what was needed well before the window opened at the turn of the year.

Former head coach Tony Mowbray had spelled it out on a near-weekly basis since the start of the season, his successor Michael Beale has repeated it since his arrival last month, and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has acknowledged it more than once.

With the club’s four summer striker signings scoring just two goals between them so far, a ready-to-go frontman was right at the top of the club’s shopping list, with a central midfielder close behind.

Callum Styles ticks the box for the midfielder, with the Bury-born Hungary international joining from League One Barnsley just half-an-hour before the 11pm deadline, initially on loan with an option to make the move permanent in the summer.

Yet the priority position remains unfilled, with Ipswich Town landing Kieffer Moore from Bournemouth despite Sunderland’s lengthy pursuit, leaving Beale reliant upon coaxing more from the now three forwards that remain, or else find an alternative source of goals.

Either way, his task will be made harder by the loss of Alex Pritchard, who has joined Birmingham City where he will be reunited with Mowbray.

Pritchard’s move was expected, with the attacking midfielder recently making it clear that he wanted to leave.

With his contract due to expire in the summer, Pritchard’s desire to depart was understandable even if the way he forced Sunderland’s hand - asking not to be selected against Stoke City last weekend - left a slightly sour taste, albeit his farewell message to fans will have gone down well.

What is not in doubt, however, is that losing Pritchard is a major blow for Sunderland.

Not only was Pritchard the club's leading assist-maker, he was also one of only a handful of senior figures in a very young dressing room, an intelligent player capable of operating in multiple roles, a set-piece specialist, and a man with more Premier League minutes - ten times more, since you ask - to his name than the rest of the Black Cats’ squad combined.

Sunderland’s loss is definitely Birmingham’s gain.

Away from the key areas, defender Leo Hjelde arrived from Leeds United earlier this week, while the talented Standard Liege winger Romaine Mundle - a product of Spurs’ youth system - joined on deadline day itself.

But those additions were offset by the loan departures of Australian defender Nectar Triantis and Costa Rican winger Jewison Bennette to Hibernian and Aris Thessaloniki respectively, with both men in need of regular gametime to aid their international hopes as much as their club careers.

Styles’ arrival, too, was counterbalanced by midfielder Jay Matete’s loan move to Oxford United as he works his way back to full fitness after a long injury absence.

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Let’s give credit where credit is due, however, because Sunderland did hold on to their crown jewels. Jack Clarke and Dan Neil, along with others who have attracted admirers from afar such as Trai Hume, Dan Ballard, and Anthony Patterson, remain on Wearside. But supporters want to see signings, not the club merely retaining the players it already has under contract.

Ultimately, the standard by which transfer dealings are judged is simple: is the squad stronger at the end of one window than it was at the end of the last?

When the summer window closed, the general consensus was that Sunderland’s squad this term was not as strong as it was in the second half of last season. And now the question is whether it is stronger or weaker today than it was at the end of the summer window.

Three additions and five departures have left the squad lighter in terms of numbers; a midfielder arrived but the key striker signing did not materialise; and Pritchard has moved on.

Rght now, it doesn’t look stronger to me. But I very much hope I am proved wrong.