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.

Shakib Al Hasan voiced his frustration at Bangladesh’s early exit from the World T20s saying that the team should have taken the match against Pakistan to last five overs from “where it could [have gone] either way. But it seemed we were never in the game.” Shakib also added the team’s failure to do “elementary” things was annoying.Pakistan reached the target of 176 runs with eight balls to spare. A few overs earlier, in the 16th, they completed the progress to the Super-Eights when they crossed the 139-run mark that gave them a better net run-rate than Bangladesh.He explained how, while fielding, the basics went missing; the lack of commitment too peeved Shakib. “I didn’t like the way we lost. We should have been lively after scoring 175, saved around fifteen runs while fielding. I’m talking about elementary things like standing 10 yards inside the boundary on the larger side of the ground. This is just a matter of common sense,” he told Bangla daily in Kandy.”These things annoy me because neither the captain nor I can tell this every ball. Then the fielder doesn’t put in the dive as the ball nears the boundary line. The dive may not work but at least the action inspires another fielder. The others will run beside the ball, without diving, seeing this,”.”This is what I expected from the team when I was the captain and even now when I’m not the captain. I think I will expect these things all the time. If we had done everything properly and lost, I wouldn’t have felt so bad. I would have thought, ‘they are a better team on paper and on the field and as a result we lost’. The disappointment would have been two out of 10, now it is six.”Shakib’s criticism of the level of commitment is significant and though he has landed in hot water in the past for giving a forthright point of view, this time it is quiet justified. Bangladesh have now failed to qualify to the second stage in all of their last four appearances in global events starting from the 2009 World Twenty20s. They had a long build-up to this campaign but it amounted to nothing after they were struck down by Brendon McCullum’s second Twenty20 international century in their first group game before giving it away to Pakistan.Their point of inspiration should have been the way Shakib bounced back after a poor day against New Zealand. His 54-ball knock put him on top of individual scores made by a Bangladeshi in T20Is, beating Nazimuddin’s 81.”I don’t normally plan anything when I go out to bat in a T20 game. After the first game against New Zealand, I realised that if I bat naturally I can have a 110-120 strike rate. I didn’t have to force things. So against Pakistan when I had gathered enough confidence, I started playing my shots,” he said, adding that he only thought of going for the hundred in the final over of the Bangladesh innings. “From a personal point of view, I had a good day. But the disappointment was to see the game being given away.”

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Liverpool made the decision to allow Nathaniel Clyne to leave Anfield on loan last month, but that dubious call has already come back to bite them.

With Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold both sidelined through injury, Jurgen Klopp has been forced to play Jordan Henderson and James Milner at right-back in recent weeks.

Milner has been found wanting on a couple of occasions since deputising at full-back, with his lack of pace proving problematic against electric wingers Wilfried Zaha and Felipe Anderson, and his unfamiliarity with the role has forced fans to question why Clyne was allowed to depart in January.

The former Southampton man showed promise against Manchester United on a rare start in December, but his impact wasn’t enough to convince the Liverpool boss to keep him for the remainder of the season.

On paper, Clyne is the club’s third choice right-back so his departure was understandable under the circumstances.

But the mini injury crisis which has emerged in light of his loan move to the south coast has put Liverpool in a difficult situation, forcing supporters to point accusative fingers at Klopp over the questionable decision.

Here’s what a handful of Liverpool fans on Reddit have had to say about Clyne’s departure:

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Everton fans have called on their club’s director of football Marcel Brands to attempt to re-sign Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United in this summer’s transfer window.

Lukaku managed 87 goals in 166 appearances for Everton between 2013 and 2017 before moving to United ahead of the 2017-18 season.

The Belgium international struck 27 goals in all competitions for United last term, but has netted just nine this season.

Marcus Rashford has been preferred in the centre-forward position since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho as head coach in December.

As a result, Lukaku has mainly been restricted to a bit-part role.

The 25-year-old did start his team’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Monday, though, and put in a decent-enough performance.

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Rashford’s excellent form could well end Lukaku’s United career, however, and a number of Everton fans have called on their club to re-sign the powerful forward.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Leeds United secured their second successive Championship victory on Saturday to retain the initiative in the title race.

The Whites had to battle hard at Elland Road, but were ultimately deserving of their 2-1 victory over strugglers Bolton Wanderers. However, Marcelo Bielsa will feel that his side should have been able to secure a more comfortable margin of victory.

This is a recurring theme, as Leeds have struggled to take their chances in recent weeks.

Who do you want to see promoted this year? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have picked their 3 favoured teams in the video below…

On the chalkboard

If Leeds are to hang on and achieve automatic promotion to the Premier League this season then they must rediscover their clinical edge soon. However, the recent injury sustained by 14-goal top scorer Kemar Roofe will have come as a major blow in this regard.

Bielsa must now find a way to make his side more prolific without having the 26-year-old forward to lead the line. The likes of Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts must now step up. The Argentine coach must first find a way to configure his attacking talents in a cohesive and effective manner.

Adapting to Bamford

25-year-old summer signing Bamford will now be the first choice to lead the line for the Whites. The 6’1” striker’s season has been ravaged by injuries so far, but now fully fit he has the capacity to get amongst the goals. 

Bamford is a clinical and reliable finisher, but a very different kind of forward to Roofe. Leeds must now adapt to having the former Middlesbrough hitman up front.

Bamford is less mobile than Roofe, but his movement in the penalty area, strength, and hold up play make him an ideal target man. If he can cultivate a relationship with the likes of Roberts and Pablo Hernandez, who can break forward from deep in order to link up with the No. 9, then Leeds could suddenly find themselves banging them in with regularity again.

حرص طاهر محمد طاهر لاعب المقاولون علي تهنئة النادي الأهلي بعد تتويجه بلقب الدوري المصري الممتاز للمرة 42 في تاريخه.

الأهلي نجح في التتويج بلقب الدوري المصري،  بعدما هزم الزمالك أمس أمام أسوان بهدف نظيف في المباراة التي جمعت الفريقين في إطار مباريات الجولة الـ 28 من الدوري المصري.

طالع أيضًا.. رغم إعلان الأهلي رحيله.. شريف إكرامي: مبروك الدوري رقم 8 في مشواري

ونشر طاهر على حسابه الرسمي بموقع التغريدات القصيرة “تويتر”: “مبروك للنادي الأهلي ورجالته الدوري ٤٢ وإن شاء الله الـ٤٣ مع بعض”.

ويمتلك الأهلي بطل الدوري في رصيده 72 نقطة، وما زال يتبقى 6 جولات على نهاية المسابقة، فيما يأتي الوصيف الزمالك برصيد 55 نقطة.

ويستعد الأهلي لمواجهة نظيره مصر المقاصة اليوم السبت في الجولة الـ 28 من الدوري المصري الممتاز. طالع التشكيل المتوقع من هنا.

جدير بالذكر أن الأهلي تعاقد مع طاهر محمد طاهر لمدة 5 سنوات بداية من الموسم الجديد.

مبروك للنادي الاهلي و رجالته الدوري ٤٢ و ان شاء الله ال٤٣ مع بعض 🦅💪🏼❤️🔥 #افريقيا_يا_اهلى

— Taher Mohamed (@Taherr7) September 19, 2020