According to David Ornstein in his ‘Ornstein on Monday’ segment, Southampton could hardly believe that Arsenal’s interest in Cedric was true and saw no logic in the approach.

The 33-cap Portugal international was set to be out of contract at St Mary’s in the summer, and after suffering knee ligament damage away to Crystal Palace, the Saints were said to have felt that losing him on a free at the end of the campaign was the most likely outcome.

However, the Gunners came in with a late approach to sign the full-back on loan in a package worth around £5m to Southampton – Mikel Arteta’s side feel that, once Cedric gets fit, they will be getting exactly what they wanted from the market.

What was said?

Ornstein wrote in his weekly segment: “When the extent of the injury he suffered away to Crystal Palace on January 21 emerged, it was accepted that leaving for free in the summer may now be the most likely outcome.

“As deadline week drew closer, news of Arsenal’s interest surfaced and Southampton could hardly believe it was true. They saw barely any logic in the approach and put it down to certain relationships between Arsenal and Soares’s people, yet there were no complaints from the south coast. A deal was done that suited all sides — the package is worth around £5m to Saints and Arsenal feel that, once fit, in Soares they will get exactly what they were seeking from the market.”

Shows how far he had fallen at St Mary’s 

Southampton’s shocked reaction to another club actually being interested in the former Sporting Lisbon man shows just how far his star has fallen at St Mary’s.

The 28-year-old really hasn’t been held in high regards by a section of Southampton fans this season, with a portion of them slamming his performance against Norwich despite watching their side record a crucial 2-1 win, while they were then disappointed to see him named in the starting XI to take on Newcastle the following week after such a dreadful display.

Also, Kyle Walker-Peters had been brought in shortly before Cedric’s exit, suggesting that Ralph Hasenhuttl didn’t really believe the right-back position was one of his strongest given how he opted to bolster it – that specific capture was the only signing made by the Austrian in January.

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If that wasn’t enough to suggest Cedric’s reputation on the south coast had dipped, their reaction of disbelief to another side wanting to take him off their hands surely shows how far he has fallen at St Mary’s.

In other news, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg may have provided a hint about his future on Instagram…

Leroy Sane has been a loss for Manchester City so far this season.

Last campaign, he managed 14 goals and 17 assists in all competitions, including 10 and 11 respectively in the Premier League as the Citizens won the Premier League title. Unfortunately, he ruptured his cruciate ligament in the Community Shield at the start of this campaign, and he has not kicked a ball in anger ever since.

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With 39 goals and 45 assists in 134 matches in all competitions for the Etihad Stadium outfit, he is clearly a talented player. And according to Simon Mullock of The Daily Mirror, Pep Guardiola and co are set to cash in on the 24-year-old at the end of the season as he refuses to sign a new contract.

The Empire of the Kop Twitter page has shared the news, and it seems that many Liverpool fans would love to have him at the club based on the fact that he is such a special player.

As his record shows, he is a talented footballer who can both score and provide. That is worth its weight in gold to any football club, even one that has Mohamed Salah, Robert Firmino and Sadio Mane on their books.

Other fans, meanwhile, believe that he would improve under Jurgen Klopp.

Given the way that the 52-year-old has improved the likes of Mane and Firmino since they moved from Southampton and Hoffenheim respectively – they have both become Ballon d’Or nominees under his tutelage – it is not hard to see him push Sane on to the next level.

Some supporters, meanwhile, would rather pursue him over other targets.

Kylian Mbappe would likely cost well over £200m, whilst Jadon Sancho, Timo Werner and Kai Havertz would all represent significant outlays – Sancho and Havertz would cost over £100m, surely, and Werner has a release clause of (€60m) £51m. Sane would also not come too cheap, but given he will have just 12 months left on his contract this summer, he may be able to be signed for a cheaper price than normal.

First though, Liverpool would need to convince City to sell to them – that seems unlikely in itself.

Meanwhile, Liverpool fans react to news on Alisson and Virgil van Dijk.

Sheffield Wednesday are stuck in a huge rut – it’s now one win and six defeats from the Owls’ last nine league outings as the prospects of returning to the top-flight for the first time in two decades appear slimmer than ever.

Their slump has seen them sink to nine points from even being in the playoff picture with 13 games to go in the season.

Garry Monk’s recent comments lambasting his players; even launching a public warning about their futures seems all too familiar.

“The transition has been happening for a long time and needs to happen and in the meantime, every player is fighting for his future. I have felt that for quite a while. It has been a bit too comfortable. I have spoken with the players about fighting for the future and they understand that and it is also about the here and now.”

Monk following a 1-1 draw with Barnsley.

Last time the Owls were a presence at the top of English football, the likes of Mark Bright, Des Walker and Paulo Di Canio were lining up for them.

Since then, the south Yorkshiremen have only enjoyed two cracks at a possible return, in back-to-back seasons under Carlos Carvalhal – the only other ‘success’ was Dave Jones steering them back to the Championship following relegation to the third tier.

Stuart Gray, Jos Luhukay, Steve Bruce and now Monk have had to fight with midtable obscurity or worse.

Back in 2016, another ex-manager in Gary Megson spoke about the culture at the club during his stint in charge – just over an exact year from February 2011 to February 2012.

In a two-part interview with Alan Biggs on Sheffield Live TV (part 1 here, part 2 here), he said:

Megson on players signing for Wednesday

“When you sign for Wednesday, not because the ground is great, not because the training ground is great – because it ain’t, not because it’s in a great position – because it wasn’t. You sign there because of the support.”

Megson on the type of players he needed at Sheffield Wednesday

“I needed those who could handle Wednesday, but not handle Wednesday, handle Wednesday not doing very well. I needed players who were honest, who had a right good go. They might not be the most talented, but we needed to get that there.”

Megson on players at the club

“We had players who, they gave me the impression they were doing Wednesday a favour, rather than the other way round.”

If these comments were printed today, but by Monk instead, you wouldn’t notice the difference – although, going by fans reaction, he’d say anything and get criticised.

Which is probably the wrong way to go about things, as evident above, there has been a poor attitude amongst the playing squad for quite some time – at least from 2012 onwards.

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Monk needs players that can handle not doing well, an honest sort that can give fans at least the entertainment they deserve.

And that is why Megson’s comments are still ringing true today.

While in other news, Sheffield Wednesday legend Carlton Palmer slams current squad amidst poor form…

Former Crystal Palace star Yannick Bolasie has sent a one word message to Cenk Tosun on Instagram.

The 35-cap DR Congo international – who joined the Eagles from Bristol City in 2012 – spent four years at Selhurst Park before departing for Everton in a deal worth £25m, where he later became a teammate of Tosun after ex-Palace boss Sam Allardyce signed the Turkish striker from Besiktas for £27m.

Bolasie helped the south Londoners win promotion to the Premier League, while also playing a key role in a number of Premier League survival campaigns and also helping the club reach the FA Cup final in 2016 – in total, he scored 13 goals and recorded 30 assists in 144 appearances for Crystal Palace.

After Tosun uploaded a shirtless post of himself alongside former Premier League winner Alvaro Negredo – the Spaniard won the title with Manchester City in 2014 – Bolasie responded with “Packzzz” in apparent reference to the striker’s six-pack.

You can see the Instagram post and the DR Congo forward’s reply below:

In other news, Michy Batshuayi has responded to Jeffrey Schlupp’s latest Instagram post…

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.