Latest AFC Bournemouth Transfer News and Updates

With Dominic Solanke having moved to Tottenham Hotspur for £65m this week, AFC Bournemouth look a little light up top. The Cherries have already signed Enes Unal and Daniel Jebbison in that position this summer, but the Turkish international will miss the beginning of the season through injury and the Canadian born youngster does not yet look ready for regular first team football in the top flight. It looks likely that the south coast club will yet again dive into the transfer market for a suitable replacement, but who could be on their short list?

Vitor Roque

Weirdly, the Premier League minnows, Bournemouth, have a strong professional relationship with Barcelona. Two years ago, they signed goalkeeper Neto from the Spanish giants, and just this week, they agreed an £8m deal for full back Julian Araujo. There are now reports that they are also pushing for a loan deal for Brazilian forward Vitor Roque.

Barcelona are negotiating with Bournemouth for an exit in the form of a loan with an option to buy Vitor Roque.

Once the agreement between clubs has been reached, the offer will be presented to the player's representative. [@BarCanaletes 🥉] #AFCB pic.twitter.com/m3mDQfcfBU

— Talkcherries_afcb (@TalkBournemouth) August 11, 2024

Roque joined Barcelona last January from his native Brazil and only made 14 league appearances for the Blaugrana, scoring twice. The Catalan club do not want to sell the 19-year-old but are willing to loan him out so that he can get more first team football; they see him as a possible replacement for Robert Lewandowski when the Polish striker decides to leave the club.

His most productive spell came in the two years he spent at Athletico Paranaense where he scored 28 goals in 81 games. He is still young so Bournemouth will probably be looking at getting him on loan with an option or even obligation to buy. He doesn’t really look like a short term solution for the Cherries, and they aren’t the kind of club to take on a loan player just for them to sit on the bench.

Santiago Gimenez

The 23-year-old Mexico international was on fire last season and it is clear why so many teams are looking to secure his signature this summer. He scored 23 league goals for Feyenoord last season, coming off the back of a 15 goal debut season. Having two solid seasons on the bounce has really confirmed him as one of the most exciting prospects in Europe.

Santiago gimenez the most underrated striker in the world pic.twitter.com/tRaj7916E3

— hazem ibrahim (@hazemzam77) August 4, 2024

Nottingham Forest have already made tentative approaches for the Mexican, but there has been no offer confirmed yet. If Bournemouth came knocking, I wouldn’t be surprised if he chose them over Forest. The Cherries have an exciting project brewing on the South Coast and look like a much more polished side. They also finished higher in the table last season and have European ambitions in the near future.

Santiago Gimenez will be a certain starter in Bournemouth unlike Roque so that might push the Cherries to sign him over the Brazilian. Feyenoord, like Barcelona, have a good relationship with Bournemouth. The Cherries signed Marcos Senesi from the Dutch side two years ago, and now have former Feyenoord winger Luis Sinisterra at the club too. Based on the two players’ performances for the club so far, I’m sure the Bournemouth fans are very grateful to the club based in Rotterdam.

Tammy Abraham

The former Chelsea striker has fallen out of favour at Roma recently, and may be looking to return to the Premier League to bolster his chances of being included in future England squads, although I’m sure if that is his ambition then he wouldn’t be looking at Bournemouth, because Solanke scored 19 Premier League goals for the Cherries last season but was still left out of the Three Lions’ Euros squad.

Bournemouth have contingency plans in place in case forward Dominic Solanke departs this summer.

Aston Villa's Cameron Archer is high on their radar, but the club's new football chief Tiago Pinto is a fan of Tammy Abraham.
[@GraemeBailey 🥇] #AFCB pic.twitter.com/ZMoDbgLWSl

— Talkcherries_afcb (@TalkBournemouth) August 6, 2024

After a remarkable debut season in Italy where he scored 27 goals in all competitions, Tammy Abraham has had a hard time in the Serie A. Last season was completely ruined by injuries and he only managed to score once in 12 games.

Tiago Pinto, Bournemouth’s new Director of Football Operations, joined the club this summer from Roma and is known to like Abraham so that could be a factor in Bournemouth’s interest in the Englishman, however his recent injury record could be off putting for the South Coast club who already have a number of players out for the beginning of the season.

Antione Semenyo, Justin Kluivert and Dango Ouattara

While they could look elsewhere for a Solanke replacement, there are some players already at the club who could step into his role, at least until Unal recovers from his injury. Antione Semenyo, who was used on the right side of Bournemouth’s attack last season, has played up front for both his national team and his previous club Bristol City. Given his excellence on the wing last season however, Andoni Iraola is unlikely to shift him over.

This angle of @DangoOuattara's cross 🎯 pic.twitter.com/mJsYvfeMtE

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) August 11, 2024

Justin Kluivert is another player who has played at centre forward in his career and was often the second furthest forward attacker for the Cherries last season, supporting Solanke in the press as a number ten. Again, Iraola is unlikely to want to move him to a number nine.

The final player, Dango Ouattara, has played on both wings and at left back since he joined the club 18 months ago. The Burkina Faso attacker has little experience as a centre forward, but Iraola has experimented with him for a little bit of preseason so out of all of the current Cherries players, he looks the most likely to fill the role if called upon. However, like Jebbison, Ouattara is still young and putting so much pressure on his shoulders this early in his career might not do him any good.

The season starts in less than a week and we are still no closer to knowing who will lead the line for Bournemouth when they visit Nottingham Forest on the opening day. They still have a bit of time to get a deal over the line, but filling Solanke’s shoes will be no easy task.