Spare a thought, if you will, for Bournemouth fans this summer (myself included).
For the past decade, the Cherries have garnered a reputation as a selling club - taking wayward talents like Dominic Solanke, or rising stars like Nathan Ake, turning them into superstars and then being forced to sell them.
Arnaut Danjuma, Callum Wilson, Tyrone Mings and Aaron Ramsdale are just some of the names that have departed in recent seasons. But after an impressive Premier League campaign under Andoni Iraola, finishing ninth and just a stone’s throw away from European football, fans were hopeful that things might change this summer.
Losing Milos Kerkez seemed inevitable; the Hungarian has been arguably the best left-back in the league over the past 12 months, and if a giant like Liverpool comes in for a player they’ll be packing their bags before even agreeing personal terms. A £40m deal has now been agreed and Kerkez will be a Liverpool player next season, subject to a medical.
Similarly, when Real Madrid come calling, you don’t hang up the phone - especially if you are Spanish, like Dean Huijsen. Like Kerkez, it’s a huge shame to see him go so soon, but at least Bournemouth have other defenders to call upon for the coming season.
Unless they get bought out too.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Paris Saint-Germain are “advancing talks” to sign Ukrainian centre-back Illia Zabarnyi, having already agreed personal terms.
Bournemouth are trying to negotiate a fee somewhere in the region of £50m, he added.
All of these departures - assuming the deals get over the line - leave just Marcos Senesi and James Hill as Iraola’s options in central defence. Elsewhere, forward Antoine Semenyo has become a target for the Premier League’s “big six” and could be snapped up by whichever club misses out on Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo.
There is plenty of time to make moves in the transfer market, and Bournemouth will certainly have the funds available to play with, but an exodus of starting XI players is still concerning for fans.
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