<p>Brighton forward <strong>Evan Ferguson (£4.5m)</strong> grabbed the attention of FPL fans with an 11 point haul against Everton on Tuesday (January 3).</p>
<p>But who is he, why has he started playing Premier League minutes and is he worth buying in Fantasy Premier League?</p>
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<h2>Who is Evan Ferguson? The history</h2>
<p>Ferguson was born in the Republic of Ireland and is the son of ex-professional footballer Barry Ferguson &#8211; that&#8217;s the Barry who was on the books of Coventry City, Hartlepool and Northampton, not the former Rangers one.</p>
<p>He made his senior footballing debut at one of his dad&#8217;s old clubs, Bohemians, having progressed from the youth ranks.</p>
<p>His first game was a friendly against Chelsea in 2019. Aside from being a memorable occasion for Frank Lampard, as it was his first match in charge of the Blues, it was a momentous one for young Ferguson who aged 14 became Bohemians&#8217; <a href="https://www.meathchronicle.ie/2021/01/09/meath-teenager-heading-for-brighton/">youngest</a> first-team player.</p>
<p>Ferguson would go on to make four competitive appearances for the Irish club, scoring two goals.</p>
<p>He caught the eye of Brighton and signed for the south-coast side in January 2021. Albion reportedly beat Liverpool and Everton to his signature.</p>
<p>His recent Premier League appearances weren&#8217;t his first senior minutes for the Seagulls though.</p>
<p>An EFL Cup match against Cardiff in August 2021 was his first taste of competitive action in England, and five months later he assisted a goal when coming off the bench in the FA Cup.</p>
<h3>Premier League debut</h3>
<p>Graham Potter handed Ferguson his Premier League debut in February 2022. He was a substitute in Albion&#8217;s home defeat to Burnley.</p>
<p>The EFL Cup again provided Ferguson with another landmark moment when he scored his first Brighton goal in a 3-0 victory against Forest Green Rovers in August 2022.</p>
<p>His performances earned him a professional deal on his 18th birthday two months later.</p>
<p>Ferguson&#8217;s Premier League minutes were restricted to a single appearance in the 2022/23 season &#8211; and it wasn&#8217;t until FPL Gameweek 17 of this campaign that he played more.</p>
<p>Roberto De Zerbi gave him seven minutes against Southampton and he scored a goal off the bench in Gameweek 18, playing 30 minutes of the 4-2 loss to Arsenal.</p>
<p>Ferguson crossed paths with Lampard once again on Tuesday, however it was not a mutually celebratory one this time. His goal and assist may well have sealed the Everton boss&#8217;s fate, as the Toffees slumped to a 4-1 defeat.</p>
<div id="attachment_51812" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-51812" class="size-full wp-image-51812" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-Brighton.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-Brighton.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-Brighton-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-Brighton-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-Brighton-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-51812" class="wp-caption-text">Evan Ferguson scores against Frank Lampard&#8217;s Everton. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Why did Evan Ferguson start for Brighton?</h2>
<p>Brighton are not blessed with a whole host of fit and firing strikers.</p>
<p>Their main striker <strong>Danny Welbeck (£6.5m) </strong>has not played since the Premier League restart, after picking up a muscle injury during the World Cup break.</p>
<p><strong>Deniz Undav (£5.1m) </strong>has failed to establish himself in the first team, playing just 94 league minutes this season.</p>
<p>And Seagulls&#8217; top scorer  <strong>Leandro Trossard (£6.8m)</strong> has been trialled up top in recent games without success, the Belgian failing to find the back of the net for five games.</p>
<p>A mixture of circumstances and taking his chance off the bench against the Gunners therefore seems to have afforded Ferguson with the chance to pick up his first league start.</p>
<p>His strong performance and lack of in-form, fit competition could see him retain his place in the team for the time being at least.</p>
<h2>What has Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi said about Evan Ferguson?</h2>
<p>The prospect of Ferguson starting was discussed in De Zerbi&#8217;s pre-match press conference ahead of the Everton game:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a very good player. He has very important qualities. I think he can play because he&#8217;s strong, he&#8217;s ready to play. Tomorrow I will decide but he gave me a good answer.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>And after the match, the Italian heaped praise on the teenager&#8217;s &#8216;physical&#8217; and &#8216;technical&#8217; qualities:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Ferguson played a fantastic game. He has big big potential. I spoke yesterday about Ferguson and I feel he can help us in this moment and in the second part of the season because we have Welbeck and Ferguson can be very important.</p></blockquote>
<p>De Zerbi said his job as a coach was to help Albion&#8217;s young players to progress, adding:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;He could become a great player, a great striker because he has all qualities to become a very big striker.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-51810" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-stats.jpg" alt="" width="897" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-stats.jpg 897w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-stats-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-stats-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Evan-Ferguson-stats-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 897px) 100vw, 897px" /></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Is Evan Ferguson a good FPL pick?</h2>
<p>Although Welbeck was not ready to play against Everton, De Zerbi&#8217;s pre-match comments indicated the Englishman wasn&#8217;t too far away from making his <a href="https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/sport/football/brighton-and-hove-albion/brighton-boss-issues-danny-welbeck-and-adam-webster-injury-update-ahead-of-arsenal-3970118">return</a>.</p>
<p>But the Brighton boss&#8217;s warm words for Ferguson indicates more minutes can be anticipated, although whether he can tie down a regular starting spot remains to be seen.</p>
<p>Welbeck has yet to score in the league this season, so bar his experience, his case for walking straight back into the starting 11 is hardly compelling.</p>
<p>Even if Ferguson isn&#8217;t nailed, his situation would be no different to other options in his price range, such as Leeds&#8217; <strong>Sam Greenwood (£4.2m)</strong>.</p>
<p>As such, Ferguson could play a role in FPL sides as a third striker, particularly if we get news of a Brighton double gameweek &#8211; keep an eye on fixtures expert <a href="https://twitter.com/BenCrellin">Ben Crellin&#8217;s</a> Twitter page and our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-blank-double-gameweek-guide">double gameweek guide</a> for updates.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-51813" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Welbeck-stats-GW19.jpg" alt="" width="897" height="731" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Welbeck-stats-GW19.jpg 897w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Welbeck-stats-GW19-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Welbeck-stats-GW19-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Welbeck-stats-GW19-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 897px) 100vw, 897px" /></p>
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