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Having really announced himself to the Anfield crowd with his incredible strike against Everton in the FA Cup third round earlier this season, Curtis Jones has certainly got plenty of people talking.

After Liverpool’s win over their Merseyside rivals, Jurgen Klopp sung the 19-year-old’s praises, and tipped him to reach the big time provided “nothing strange happens”.

“It was an absolutely sensational goal, I love it. Let me speak about Curtis. Unbelievable player, Scouser, very confident, can’t wait to play in the first team. Rightly so. He is in a very good way, I’ve known him for three-and-a half years. He has made big steps, he will be a Liverpool player if nothing strange happens 100%. You sometimes forget, and we forget it in training, that he is only 18. Unbelievable.”

Quite the statement to make. But Jones’ goal certainly raised the excitement levels surrounding him, and it’s perhaps been slightly surprising that he hasn’t been afforded too much of an opportunity this season. Of course, the Reds are intent on securing their first league title in more than a couple of decades, so Klopp is reluctant to make any significant changes.

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But blooding someone like Jones in now, and helping him develop over the course of the summer, could save the Reds millions in the transfer market. He has provided two goals and one assist in 414 minutes of senior football this season, whilst his record at academy level is even more remarkable – he has 20 goal contributions in just 19 matches.

Indeed, after Liverpool’s youthful side brushed past Shrewsbury in the FA Cup fourth round, John Aldridge even claimed that he could be a replacement for Adam Lallana.

“He is just a quality footballer with natural ability and a good arrogance. He knows he is good and he does things the right way. It looks like Adam Lallana is leaving at the end of the season after his contract expires. This lad will save the manager a lot of money because he can step right into the squad and you can always depend on him. He’s got a fantastic future.”

The Reds have already seen the benefits of throwing in a home-grown talent into the deep end, with Trent Alexander-Arnold becoming a stand-out performer with 14 assists this season.

Quickfire Questions – Early title winners: Can you get all 13 right in 2 minutes?

Young players can only shine if they are given the opportunity to do so, and if Klopp starts trusting in Jones more, it could prove to be the kind of inspirational masterstroke that saves Liverpool from spending big-money on reinforcing their squad.

With the Premier League title almost done and dusted – they are currently 22 points clear of second-placed Manchester City – the Liverpool boss can afford to give some valuable first-team opportunities to some of the Reds’ talented youngsters. Jones could be one who benefits the most from that.

Meanwhile, Liverpool were shown what this January target could have brought after a superb Champions League display.

Everton’s season looks like it has ended early after a humiliating defeat at the hands of Chelsea leaves them in 12th place, six points off the Europa League qualification places and having played one game more than Sheffield United.

Carlo Ancelotti will now know the size of the task ahead of him and where big improvements are most needed, with the Toffees looking both toothless up-front and shaky at the back.

Even senior players like Andre Gomes and Gylfi Sigurdsson – captain on the day – went missing at times with respective SofaScore ratings of 6.0 and 5.9, allowing the Blues to steamroll their way to a comfortable victory.

Perhaps the only positive was the second-half introduction of youngster Anthony Gordon for his third senior appearance. The 19-year-old has impressed for Everton under 23s, scoring seven and assisting three in 12 games this term.

Fans reacted to his appearance by suggesting he should play more, especially since there is now little to play for.

He certainly has a lot of potential but he will only be able to realise that if he is given game time, which could happen under Carlo Ancelotti considering how often Tom Davies and Mason Holgate have featured so far.

As an Everton boy supporters will likely be even keener for Gordon to succeed, and some would like him to take the place of Sigurdsson in team after his drop in performance this year.

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The Icelander has one league goal compared to 13 in the last campaign, and it is possible that Gordon will show more energy and desire than the 30-year-old as he will be eager to take any chance he gets.

Did he really play for us?! No Everton fan has managed to name all of these obscure Toffees players….

In other news, there may be a big development relating to another popular player over the coming weeks…

According to The Daily Mail, Crystal Palace are monitoring Allan Saint-Maximin’s situation at Newcastle.

What’s the story?

The 22-year-old was not in the Toon’s squad for their goalless draw with Burnley on Saturday, with manager Steve Bruce saying that he was struggling with a hamstring injury.

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However, The Mail’s sources say that he is fully fit and available for selection, even with Bruce saying that he is a doubt for the Magpies’ FA Cup tie with West Bromwich Albion. As such, the report adds that both Palace and Wolves are monitoring the ongoing situation.

Perfect Zaha replacement

It seems that Wilfried Zaha is persistently linked with a move away from Selhurst Park. The 27-year-old was the subject of intense interest from Arsenal last summer, and it was even said at one point during the previous transfer window that his agent was trying to broker a move to Tottenham.

For now, he remains with the Eagles, but it seems unlikely that Roy Hodgson and co will be able to keep him at the club for too much longer. In the summer, interest in his services could very well resume – at some point, something has to give.

The former Manchester United man has been a key member of the London outfit’s team over the years – he has 26 goals and 26 assists across the last three full campaigns in the Premier League – meaning that an adequate replacement would be needed to replace him should he depart. There are few attainable players who could take his place in the English top flight, but Saint-Maximin is one of them.

In his first season in England, the former Nice winger has one goal and one assist in 14 starts in the league. Not the best return, but there have been plenty of positives from his play. He is one of the most adept dribblers in the division – only Zaha (4.6) and Adama Traore (5.2) have completed more than his 4.3 per match.

His stats are close to the mirror image of Zaha as well – they have both completed 63% of their dribbles, whilst the Frenchman has prevailed in 52% of his duels compared to 49%, and Saint-Maximin has averaged slightly more key passes and shots per game than the Palace star.

Whilst no transfer fee has been mentioned as part of the report, his Transfermarkt market value of £22.5m would surely be covered by any potential Zaha departure – he himself is valued at £49.5m.

Palace could do an awful lot worse than signing Saint-Maximin as Zaha’s replacement, but it remains to be seen whether the situation in the north-east can be resolved.

Meanwhile, Dougie Freedman should avoid making a move for this £20m reported target.

Sunderland need to brush themselves down and get going again after a defeat to Bristol Rovers on Tuesday takes them to four matches on the spin without a victory.What’s more, the performance against the Gas was clearly one to forget, as for all of their 62% possession the Black Cats lacked danger, mustering just two shots on target.Antoine Semenyo was a bright spark on his full debut, however, and dealt well with the pressure of replacing Lynden Gooch, who has made 11 goal contributions this term.The Bristol City loanee was successful with three out of four dribbling attempts, per SofaScore, and he showed energy off the ball, too, with a tackle and an interception meaning he has rightly been praised by fans for the effort he showed.

Judging by fans’ comments, the worry is that the desire shown by Semenyo was not replicated by his teammates, who lacked urgency throughout and were also short of ideas of how to break down a stubborn Rovers backline.

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Former player Stephen Elliott emphasised the lack of desire of players in his post-match analysis, and the fact that 19-year-old Semenyo was the only player to show fight and character is a worrying sign.

Despite that, it shows Phil Parkinson that he has a dependable player to call upon, as Semenyo proved effective and perhaps could have won his team the points if he had received more sufficient help from those around him.

Premier League Inflation: You won’t believe how much these famous transfers would cost today…

The Black Cats’ boss may now have a difficult call to make as Gooch will be eager to return to the starting line-up, and perhaps a more attacking formation could be adopted given the need for goals.

In other news, one aspect of the players’ performance against Bristol Rovers has been a big topic of discussion for some…

The Premier League, FA, EFL and WSL have decided that all English football will be suspended until April 4th, as reported on the Premier League’s official website.

Players across the division will be looking to ensure that they stay fit during the absence of league football, as they aim to ensure they finish the season strongly when it does eventually return.

Patrick van Aanholt is one of those, and he has posted a message to Crystal Palace supporters on Instagram, including that they will “be back soon”.

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The Eagles find themselves in a strong position in the league, sitting 11th in the table, 12th points above the relegation zone and just six points behind fifth.

Therefore, Roy Hodgson’s side will be keen to get back on the pitch as they aim to finish as high in the league as possible.

Van Aanholt’s original Instagram post can be seen below:

Meanwhile, FFC writers have given their verdict on whether Palace should sign Michy Batshuayi.

The Independent’s Jack Rathborn was very wrong in his prediction about West Ham United’s Pablo Fornals, in their 2019/20 season preview.

What did he say?

At the beginning of each season, journalists and fans across the country offer their predictions about how they expect the Premier League season to play out.

That was no different this time around, and while the current Premier League suspension will not have been envisioned by anyone before the campaign begun, there were many other, more reasonable categories in which predictions were made.

One of those for The Independent was signing of the season, for which sports reporter Rathborn replied: “Pablo Fornals, will add real quality to West Ham’s midfield.”

Their northern football correspondent Mark Critchley added: “I imagine Rodri’s going to receive a lot of plaudits, but a slightly less obvious choice would be West Ham’s Pablo Fornals.”

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Not a complete write-off

While Fornals definitely shouldn’t be written off, he certainly has not been the signing of the season when looking at his impact so far.

Having joined from Villarreal, he has made 15 starts and 12 substitute appearances in the Premier League, recording two goals and five assists so far.

Life in England started very slowly for the 24-year-old and he has had his low points, failing to manage a single goal contribution in his first 12 league games as well as being left out of the matchday squad altogether for the defeat to Manchester City last month.

Is life under Gold and Sullivan really that bad? Maybe this quiz will change your minds, West Ham fans…

There are definitely signs that he can be a success at West Ham though, as he provided two assists against Southampton and also scored in the 3-2 loss against Liverpool, having come off the bench at Anfield.

With this in mind, it is not necessarily his fault that he is nowhere near being signing of the season, as highlighted by the fact that he has started just four of the 10 league games played since David Moyes took over at London Stadium.

The Spaniard can go on to be a success at West Ham, but he is far from the Premier League signing of the season.

Meanwhile, ExWHUemployee wants a Premier League club’s talisman at West Ham next term.

The 2015/16 season for Aston Villa, much like this current one, was miserable.

Back then, the Villans were relegated to the second tier, managing to pick up only a paltry 17 points as they finished rock bottom. They spent a considerable sum back then, too – £59.9m, to be exact, although not quite the £100m+ they parted with last summer – yet it did little to help their bid for survival.

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Jordan Amavi was one of those who made the switch to the Midlands prior to the start of the term and he, like many others, will not have enjoyed his time at Villa Park. Now, though, he is flourishing back in France, with Marseille.

Here, we take a look at how he is getting on.

Time at Villa

It was at OGC Nice where Amavi made his name in French football. He came through the youth system there, and would end up playing 60 times for them, scoring four goals – two more than he has managed anywhere else. That convinced Villa to make their move, and they decided to pay £9.9m for his services, as per Transfermarkt.

He actually made just 10 appearances during that fateful season, but he was one of the better performers. He picked up a WhoScored rating of 7.48 and, had it not been for a cruciate ligament rupture in November, he would have likely played an awful lot more.

When he returned though, he failed to make the same impression in the Championship. Under Steve Bruce, he started 26 matches, but managed an average rating of just 6.79. That would prove to be his last campaign for the club – he moved on loan to Marseille in 2017.

Where is he now?

Moving back to his homeland has done him the world of good. He made 27 Ligue 1 appearances during his first campaign with L’OM, managing six assists along the way. He also impressed in the Europa League – he played 11 matches, managing an average rating of 7.14 as Marseille made the final. Although they lost to Atletico Madrid 3-0, it was still a promising season.

That convinced Marseille to sign him permanently, and they parted with £9m for his services, as per Transfermarkt – that meant Villa made a small loss. He played regularly once more in the league, featuring 28 times as Marseille finished fifth in the table.

This season, both himself and Marseille are really enjoying themselves. He has started 26 out of the 28 league matches they have played to date under former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas, as the side from the south of France currently sit in second position in the table behind PSG. When football finally resumes, they will be in prime position to qualify for next year’s Champions League.

Now valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, he was rather unfortunate at Villa, but now he is reaping the rewards his talent deserves.

At 26, it will be interesting to see how far he can go.

Former England number one goalkeeper Paul Robinson has urged Liverpool to move for Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore, in an interview with Football Insider.

What did he say?

Traore has been outstanding for Wolves this season scoring four goals and providing seven assists and his club have reportedly placed a £70m price tag on the Spaniard as a result.

His form has been certainly been noticed by Robinson, who described the attacker as one of the most improved players he has seen in the Premier League.

The former Tottenham Hotspur man also urged Premier League leaders Liverpool to move for the former Barcelona player.

“I think it is somebody Liverpool will be looking at anyway,” he told Football Insider.

“Traore has had an outstanding season. I do not think anybody has improved in the Premier League like he has – so visibly.

“From running down blind alleys with no end product to scoring goals, finding intelligent passes and consistently delivering end product with his unbelievable speed. He is causing defenders all sorts of problems. Nobody knows whether to drop off or come tight because either way he gets past you.

“His development as a player and an athlete has been great to watch. I can see Liverpool signing him.”

Options

Traore is unlikely to have a shortage of suitors come the summer following his incredible season in the Midlands, with Liverpool one potential location.

The Reds have though built their side around a front three of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino, which means it could be very difficult for Traore get game time.

However, should Liverpool ever choose to cash in on one of their stars, Traore would present the ideal replacement and could fit in well in Jurgen Klopp’s team.

Everton fans have revealed the players they did not like seeing leaving the club over recent times with names such as Gary Speed and Duncan Ferguson being mentioned.

With football at a standstill due to current events, Toffees fans have been busy of late taking part in various club polls.

Reacting to a latest question from fan account @thetoffees_com, who asked: “Which player leaving the club hurt you the most?” – fans selected some of the club’s favoured former stars.

Duncan Ferguson was one of the most mentioned names by fans, having left Goodison Park in 1998 for Newcastle United, the Scottish striker left behind a successful five year spell with Everton.

Returning to the club in 2000, Ferguson would have a further six years at the club before taking up a coaching role which would eventually see him named caretaker manager for four games in December.

Former midfielder Speed joined Everton from Leeds United in 1996, but he would join Ferguson in making a move to Newcastle, a move that would see his perform to a very high standard, making 265 appearances for the Magpies.

Aside from Ferguson and Speed, Wayne Rooney was another name mentioned, having left Merseyside during the younger years of his career for Manchester United.

Below are just some of the fan responses:

Everton fans, which departure hurt you the most? Let us know below…

After signing Harry Maguire for a world-record fee for a defender last summer, Manchester United no doubt were looking at who would be the man to partner the England international at centre-back.

Despite boasting numerous options, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seemed to predominantly place his faith in Victor Lindelof, with the Swede playing 35 times across all competitions.

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However, it appears he could be set for some added competition for his place for next season. According to ESPN, the Red Devils have concerns over Lindelof’s form and are open to bringing in a new centre-back – Real Vallalodid defender Mohammed Salisu has been enquired about.

After hearing the update on Lindelof’s future at the club, United fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation.

A couple of fans simply urged for Lindelof to be gotten rid of completely, with one supporter saying it would complete Solskjaer’s clear-out job at United.

The key to a solid defence is building familiarity and relationships at the back, and with Maguire established as the club’s best central defender, finding the perfect partner for him should be Solskjaer’s priority.

The club have options like Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe, Phil Jones and even Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo who are out on loan. Quantity isn’t everything, and it says a lot that even despite having so many centre-backs at their disposal, United are keen to bring in another one.

Lindelof could perhaps be the surprise casualty of that.

Meanwhile, Man Utd fans react to major update on David de Gea’s future.