Do Bournemouth Have The Best Young Team In The Premier League?

AFC Bournemouth have the fourth lowest average age of their squad in the Premier League, with only Chelsea, Tottenham and Brighton having a younger team. This is down to their recent recruitment strategy which has seen them pick up young unknown talents for cheap before selling them on for big money. Other than Dominic Solanke last year, they are yet to sell any of their young talents, but this summer that could change as a lot of top clubs are looking at some of their best assets.

Milos Kerkez - LB

Bournemouth bought Milos Kerkez from AZ Alkmaar in 2023 for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £15m. The Hungarian international plays for Andoni Iraola’s side in the left back position, but he can play further forward. Since joining, he has been a mainstay in the Cherries team, playing 56 times in less than two seasons. This year, he has started to add attacking numbers to his game, which has drawn interest from other Premier League clubs.

Milos Kerkez’s tank was empty, and then he did this… 😱 pic.twitter.com/a65mfWq7Rp

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 22, 2025

The two teams that look like they could sign him in the summer are rivals Manchester United and Liverpool. United have been admirers of him for a long time, even while he was at AZ, but Liverpool are leading the race simply because of their form this season and because their director of football, Richard Hughes, was the person who brought him to Bournemouth in the first place.

Dean Huijsen - CB

19-year-old Dean Huijsen is only getting noticed by big clubs because of the injury crisis at Bournemouth. The whole idea behind bringing the Spanish youngster in the club in the summer was to use him as a replacement once Marcos Senesi left in the summer, but due to his injury, Huijsen has had to play most of the season, and in doing so has shown the everyone that he is one of the best teenagers in world football.

Dean Huijsen with £55M release clause sounds too good to pass up this summer.

(Percentile as per fbref)
94% Interceptions
91% blocks
88% clearances
90% progressive carries
Can defend & push the ball up the pitch. Now 🇪🇸 U21 but played for 🇳🇱 U16/U17/U18/U19. Speaks Dutch.… pic.twitter.com/iMiHUcLKxm

— Moby (@Mobyhaque1) February 11, 2025

Bought from Juventus for just £15m, Huijsen is now attracting interest from Chelsea, Real Madrid and Liverpool but Bournemouth won’t want to sell him for anything less than his release clause of £50m. To turn around £35m in just one year is quite remarkable, which just goes to show how good the Cherries’ recruitment has been.

Illya Zabarnyi - CB

There has been less talk around Huijsen’s centre back partner in Illya Zabarnyi this season, but he has been just as good as the Spaniard, and for much longer too. He was brought in two years ago for £20m from Dynamo Kyiv and has since been ever present in Andoni Iraola’s team.

Ooooooh I wanna dance with Zabarnyi 🎶 pic.twitter.com/40c4ZyBSi9

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) April 5, 2024

Strong, aggressive and quick, Zabarnyi has all of the attributes that a modern centre back needs. He isn’t known for his dominance in the air, especially from attacking set pieces, but in ground duels, he is one of the best. The 22-year-old has attracted interest from the likes of Newcastle, Manchester City and PSG in recent months, but again Bournemouth will demand a high fee as he signed a new five year deal in the summer.

Justin Kluivert - CAM

One of the best pieces of transfer business done in recent years was Bournemouth’s signing of Justin Kluivert 18 months ago. The Dutch attacker had been bouncing around clubs on loan before his move to the Cherries, but Andoni Iraola wanted to take a risk on him and bought the player for just £9.5m. He has scored 21 times in just 60 games for Bournemouth, including 12 in this campaign.

🚨🥇 Justin Kluivert, Premier League Player of the Month for January. 🍒🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/faOCwlfbHT

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 7, 2025

Not many clubs have shown an interest in signing him, despite his attacking output, but after he scored a hattrick against them, Newcastle made a few approaches. Bournemouth will undoubtedly want upwards of £40m for their top scorer this season, so Newcastle would have to sell players to afford the Cherries’ highest paid player.

Antoine Semenyo - RW

The talk of the Cherries right now is Antoine Semenyo. The Ghanaian forward has shown flair, athleticism and power since he joined the South Coast side from Bristol City two years ago, and following the departure of Solanke in the summer, he has been their go-to man. The Cherries signed him for £10m in January 2023, and he has since gone on to score 18 times for the club in 73 games.

Semenyo is probably the closest thing we got to a Sadio Mane in the Premier League right now.

Pace, power, quite technical for an extremely explosive player, and two footed as well. Can play lw, rw and even the 9. Can see LFC being interested if a forward leaves. Baller! pic.twitter.com/tgWcx2kga4

— DGOAT (@DgoatLFC) February 8, 2025

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United are all interested in him, with the Blues ready to submit a £42m bid for the 24-year-old in the summer, but Bournemouth fans have taken to social media to mock the amount, as they believe him to be worth nearer £100m. The club will likely take a more reasonable middle of the ground approach, but I’d be surprised if he went for less than £55m or even £60m, especially with the number of clubs interested in him.

Who Else Do Bournemouth Have?

Even though bigger clubs aren't sniffing around them, Bournemouth still have other incredible young talents. Dango Ouattara scored a hattrick against high-flying Nottingham Forest last month. The 23-year-old has been at the club for two years and has slotted in a number of positions under Iraola.

Alex Scott joined the club 18 months ago after being named EFL Young Player of the Season in 2023, but has struggled with injuries since then. Bournemouth fans have seen glimpses of his talent but the midfielder still has a way to go before he makes a big money move.

Last month Bournemouth made two big singings, bringing in full back Julio Soler and striker Junior Kroupi. They are 19 and 18 years old respectively, but have huge potential. Cherries fans will have to wait to see them in action, as Soler has joined up with the Argentina U20s squad for the South America U20s Championship, while Kroupi has returned to Lorient on loan.