Bournemouth shocked pundits last season by finishing 16th in the Premier League. Can they cope with the loss of a few key players and stay up once again?
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INS: Lewis Cook (undisclosed, Leeds), Emerson Hyndman (free, Fulham), Jordan Ibe (£15 million, Liverpool), Lys Mousset (£5.4 million, Le Havre), Brad Smith (undisclosed, Liverpool)
OUTS: Tommy Elphick (£3 million, Aston Villa), Juan Iturbe (loan expired, Roma), Matt Ritchie (undisclosed, Newcastle)
THE STORY: Last season, in their first ever Premier League campaign, Bournemouth finished 16th, five points clear of the drop zone. For a 117-year-old club that have spent most of their history toiling in the third and fourth divisions of English soccer, it was a huge achievement.
Massive wins away at Chelsea and home against Manchester United added to the magical quality of their 2015-16 run.
Another year of Premier League football has Cherries supporters optimistic about the 2016-17 season.
Manager Eddie Howe has brought five new players to Dean Court, including two promising signings from Liverpool — Jordan Ibe, whose £15 million price tag is a club record, and Brad Smith. They joined another pair of young signings. England U19 international Lewis Cook came over from Leeds, while France U20 striker Lys Mousset arrived from Le Havre.
With two of their more important players from last season, Tommy Elphick and Matt Ritchie, leaving for historically bigger, Championship clubs — Aston Villa and Newcastle, respectively — Howe will need to get his new signings up and running very quickly.
U.S. Men’s National Team fans will be excited by the addition of Emerson Hyndman on a free transfer from Fulham. The 20-year-old Dallas native has made inroads with the national team over the last year, and an opportunity to play Premier League soccer should only increase his appeal to Jurgen Klinsmann. He will be battling for playing time in a fairly strong Bournemouth midfield.
Under Howe, Bournemouth have been an attacking side, pushing forward toward goal as much as possible. This, however, tends to leave their backline exposed: they conceded the second most goals in the league last season, and Newcastle — who were relegated — posted more clean sheets.
Elphick’s departure leaves Bournemouth with only one true center-back in Steve Cook. Simon Francis is an option after filling in at the position last season, as is Tyrone Mings, a 6-foot-5 left back coming off an ACL injury.
Bournemouth fans have reason to be pleased with the offseason moves to this point, but should probably still be hoping for some more defensive-minded signings before the transfer window shuts.
KEY PLAYER: With Elphick and Ritchie out of the picture, the Cherries will need one or two of their new signings to emerge as key players as the season progresses, but as of now two old boys stand above the rest in terms of importance.
Norwegian-born forward Joshua King had a strong second half to the 2015-16 campaign and finished the season as Bournemouth’s leading scorer with seven goals (six in league play). He will be counted on to lead the attack, and will be one of the main sources of goals for the Cherries along with Callum Wilson, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, but who looked very impressive before being sidelined.
Marc Pugh just puts in work. As the club’s longest-serving player he will be expected to play a large leadership role in addition to his work on the wing. He finished with five goals on the season and can always be counted on to make good decisions and deliver the right pass. Pugh enters the season as Bournemouth’s key player.
MANAGER: Howe has emerged as one of England’s best managers over the past few seasons. So much so that he was linked to the England national team opening, even, as Howe himself admitted, if it was just speculation.
Howe began his professional playing career with Bournemouth in 1995, and ended up with over 250 appearances for the club. He also began his coaching career with the Cherries. After a stint with Burnley, he signed on as manager with his former club in 2012. He took them from League One to the Premier League in three years. Unsurprisingly, he recently signed a contract that will keep him at Dean Court until 2020.
BEST CASE: The new signings — including a new defender — mesh well with the established core and the defense holds behind a decent attack, leading the Cherries to a top half finish.
WORST CASE:Â The defense fails to step up and no consistent scoring threat emerges. Bournemouth hemorrhage goals on the way to being relegated.
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