Ashley Young at Anfield?

I was salivating over the newspaper this morning and - for once - it was not a result of Jakki, 22, from Blackpool. 'Rafa Wants Young Gun' - read the headline.

According to reports, Liverpool are set to offer £20 million for Aston Villa's Ashley Young. This is unexpected music to my ears.

Unexpected as I had given up all hope of Rafa Benitez being permitted to sign the player that will complete the title-chasing jigsaw at Anfield. Martin O'Neill's reluctance to sell seemed to have proved a sufficient deterrent for any potential suitor. And, apparently, Liverpool are broke.

I would be overjoyed at the sight of Young weaving in, out and through defenders with the Liver bird emblazoned on his jersey. Having witnessed the majority of Villa's campaign last season, it seems whenever he is not creating goals, he is scoring them. I can only recall a couple of occasions - during a spell when the entire team was struggling for form - that he was unable to make an impact.

This is the player that Liverpool need. The side has a spine of world-class players, and while this is to every Liverpool fan's immense satisfaction, it does serve to highlight the gulf in ability in wide areas.

Kuyt, despite scoring some important goals and providing audacious work-rate, does not possess the ability to strike fear into his opponents. Riera proved fruitful during the start of the campaign but fell short with his end product on too many occasions. And Ryan Babel, for whom I still hold out hope, did not impress enough to earn a regular starting berth.

Benitez appears to be addressing these problems. The £17 million arrival of Glen Johnson will blend a perfect partnership on the right-hand side. Johnson's attacking prowess will be facilitated by Kuyt's constant back-tracking. Both players have defensive and attacking attributes that will complement almost perfectly.

Should Ashley Young complete a move to Anfield, Liverpool will pose another threat. A threat that will command the opposition's attention and respect. A threat that will allow more space for Gerrard and Torres. And a threat that is truly worthy of playing alongside them.

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A season of surprises

It has been another sensational season in the Barclay's Premier League so far - with only Sunday's final fixtures remaining - and once again there have been players and teams that have surprised me.

Stilian Petrov - Aston Villa's Bulgarian midfielder - has surprised me greatly. Not only proving he can perform in a competitive league (his previous clubs being Celtic of the SPL and CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria) but perform to a standard that almost drove Villa into a Champions League place - only to miss out to Arsenal due to a lack of squad depth.

I am delighted for Martin O'Neill that his signing has come to fruition following two innocuous seasons. It was the signing of Petrov along with Shaun Maloney - both coming from O'Neill's former club Celtic - that left me questioning his ability in the transfer market, however, with one in the form of his life and the other shipped back from whence he came, my view has changed.

Another surprise has been just how good Stephen Ireland has become. He clearly isn't the brightest of lads and has done some strange things - claiming his grandmother had died in order to avoid playing an international fixture for the Republic of Ireland being one example.

Ireland's performances throughout the season have been sublime. He has the potential to become World-class and will surely be Man City's talisman during their money-fuelled quest for greatness.

Other players deserved of a mention are 17-year-old Federico Macheda - bursting on to the scene with his curling debut winner for Man Utd against Aston Villa that put United firmly on top of the table - and Brede Hangeland - a towering, rock-solid centre-half and cornerstone of Fulham's success this season.

Hull City surprised everyone during the first half of the season - notably beating Arsenal at the Emirates - only for that state of surprise to turn into shock following Hull boss Phil "who wants an interview?" Brown forcing his side to face a humiliating tirade of abuse on the pitch after their poor first-half performance against Man City (gifting them a 4-0 lead). All this for a team well above their station at sixth in the Premier League table - results since that game leaving them one point off the drop-zone.

Fulham have been my surprise team of the season - playing attractive, free-flowing football throughout.

Opinions were few and far between when Roy Hodgson was appointed Fulham boss (often replaced with a casual shrug) but he has installed a great footballing philosophy at the club - bringing the best out of Danny Murphy, who had hidden his talent like a Greek soldier in a horse during his spells at Charlton and Tottenham.

Hodgson miraculously saved the club from the depths of relegation despair on the final day of last season - Fulham winning four of their last five games - and brought them to the brink of European football this season. A great achievement for a great bloke.

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