Reviews that Roma have set their sights on defender Marcos Senesi have to be the very last thing Bournemouth supporters wish to hear.
Bournemouth managed to carry on to the Argentina worldwide in defiance of rumoured curiosity from Serie A giants Juventus however a summer time sale in 2025 can be sadly timed to say the least.
The Cherries definitely aren’t transferring defenders on with out attracting prime greenback for them however the defensive departures would tackle a distinct complexion if Senesi have been to swap the south coast for Italy’s capital.
Andoni Iraola is going through worrying losses in Bournemouth’s defence
Bournemouth have offered a 20-year-old centre-back to Actual Madrid and a 21-year-old left-back to Liverpool. Each Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez have been excellent within the Premier League in 2024/25 and Bournemouth – by hook, criminal and launch clause – have been in a position to money in.
Supervisor Andoni Iraola has additionally misplaced goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who’s Arsenal-bound after returning to Chelsea from a mortgage spell that noticed his efficiency numbers vastly outstrip appearances.
Proper-back Max Aarons has already been despatched again out on mortgage, this time to Scottish Premiership facet Rangers, and there hasn’t been a whiff of panic from the course of King’s Park regardless of Huijsen and Kerkez setting sail to the highest.
Bournemouth know higher than most that worse issues occur by the seaside than making a small fortune from two gifted younger footballers who’ve moved to golf equipment the place they will anticipate to swim in silver.
Relegations, nice escapes, factors deductions and the real prospect of oblivion have all darkened the door of Dean Court docket in comparatively current historical past and older generations of Bournemouth supporters can be forgiven for addressing a possible personnel downside in defence with not more than a shrug.
Iraola’s aggressive and infrequently irresistible soccer has pushed Bournemouth to a brand new degree. Premier League participation as soon as appeared a distant dream and top-flight consolidation a daft impossibility however the 43-year-old has taken the Dorset membership past even that.
Bournemouth have misplaced Huijsen and Kerkez as a result of they have been extraordinary gamers in an exciting, very important, efficient Premier League staff.
Iraola delivered a highest-ever league end for a membership that positioned within the prime half of League One 20 years earlier and thought of it progress.
That’s the tip of the iceberg in terms of the story of Bournemouth’s final 30 years nevertheless it explains why it’s with out mawkishness or sympathy that they are often claimed to be victims of their very own success.
It’s merely a press release of truth and the inevitable consequence of a primary actual push for Europe.
Huijsen and Kerkez are irreplaceable. The left-back was the one participant to begin each Premier League recreation for Bournemouth in 2024/25 and one among solely two defenders who performed extra minutes than Huijsen.
The opposite, Ilya Zabarnyi, isn’t any extra unfamiliar with the admiring gaze of different golf equipment this summer time than Senesi. Add 33-year-old Adam Smith to that listing and you’ve got the 5 defenders with probably the most Premier League minutes for the Cherries final season.
Senesi’s contract runs out subsequent summer time and he’s extra seemingly than Zabarnyi to depart on that foundation alone, however a giant bid for the Ukrainian could possibly be tempting for Black Knight even when Andoni would possibly want to not backside out his defence in a single switch window.
No matter occurs, there’s already work to do for the Cherries’ recruitment staff in defence. You’d again them to do it nicely, given the justified demand for his or her gamers.
Cherries supporters will hope they’ve already made their transfer on the left, changing Kerkez with single-capped French 23-year-old Adrien Truffert from Rennes, however the coming weeks will reveal so much about Bournemouth.
If they will find and appeal to the following Huijsen and Kerkez, it’s the opposite golf equipment who ought to be frightened.
If the younger defenders ready within the wings – Julian Araujo and James Hill, each 22, performed in ten or extra Premier League matches final season – any considerations on Iraola’s half will ease.
If Iraola can by some means mastermind one other top-half end within the absence of two or extra of his defensive main lights in 2025/26, his personal future would be the greatest concern on the Vitality Stadium this time subsequent yr.
