With Bournemouth officially announcing the signing of Dean Huijsen, their attention will now turn to new targets. Here are three key positions for Bournemouth to have a transfer focus on.
Bournemouth’s Key Positions to Strengthen This Transfer Window
A New Shot-Stopper: Bournemouth’s Biggest Transfer Problem
While the Cherries have just bolstered their defensive rankings with the arrival of Huijsen, they still have work to do at the back. Perhaps the next primary focus of Simon Francis, Tiago Pinto and Neil Blake should be a goalkeeper. We saw Andoni Iraola give Mark Travers the chance to prove his worth at the back end of last season, a chance which Travers grabbed with both gloves. In the four games he was favoured by the Bournemouth head coach, the Irish international kept two clean sheets and posted a strong save percentage of 72.2%.
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Neto was the man in favour beforehand, being the number one for the vast majority of the season. However, despite a stellar maiden campaign on the South Coast the year prior, his shaky performances became a regular occurrence, leading to Bournemouth fans losing confidence in the Brazilian.
The general consensus now is that in order to move forward, a new first-choice goalkeeper must be found.
Which Goalkeeper Could Bournemouth Sign?
Recently, the full focus of Bournemouth’s transfer team has been on bringing Huijsen to the club, so the rumours of other potential incomings have stalled. However, in the last week there has been talk about Yvon Mvogo and Sam Johnstone.
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Mvogo, who is sister club Lorient’s first-choice, “could be tempted by a first experience in the Premier League”. He was kept busy in between the sticks last season, making the most saves in Ligue 1 (144), averaging just over four saves per match.
Sam Johnstone has been in and out of the Crystal Palace squad, consistently competing with England international Dean Henderson. Therefore, it would make sense that he would be open to a move away in order to secure a consistent starting position. Johnstone did look solid every time he turned out for the Eagles last season, keeping six clean sheets in 20 Premier League appearances.
Midfield Depth
On face value, it looks as though Bournemouth’s midfield is already impressive enough to match the club’s ambitions, with Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie proving to be a revelation in the middle of the park. They managed to keep USA captain Tyler Adams out of the squad, however, the reality is that Adams was limited to just 118 Premier League minutes, with his season being ravaged by injury.
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The general feeling around Bournemouth is that the former Leeds man would feel like a new signing this season, and that is true. However, his season now won’t start for weeks, after picking up an injury that required surgery to repair whilst playing for the USA at Copa America. Given this news, Bournemouth may look to bolster their depth in deep midfield, currently containing Cook, Christie, Alex Scott and Gavin Kilkenny.
Who Could Bournemouth Sign?
As mentioned above, there hasn’t been very much other transfer work going on at Bournemouth other than the Huijsen signing. At the beginning of the summer, Girona‘s Aleix Garcia was suggested as a good Bournemouth target. However, he has since moved to Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen.
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Other than Garcia, it has all been quiet on the midfield front. This is something that Cherries fans will be hoping changes very soon!
Strengthening at Right-Back
Right back is a very demanding position to play under Andoni Iraola, with the expectation to be able to contribute going forwards whilst still performing their defensive duties when out of possession. Max Aarons arrived last summer and has looked like a quality addition, however, a hamstring injury saw him miss 15 games last season. That meant 33-year-old Adam Smith was relied on. This is a position that could therefore be strengthened if Bournemouth are to achieve their ambitions this season.
Who Could Bournemouth Sign?
There have been a few names that were thrown around earlier this summer, Trai Hume of Sunderland being one of them. Hume has been attracting top interest all summer. Despite this interest, he still belongs to the Black Cats. Hume was vastly impressive in the Championship last season, posting great numbers going forward and defensively. The Northern Irish international won 57% of his duels and had a pass accuracy of 83%.
