After such a remarkable 2023-24 season under Andoni Iraola, AFC Bournemouth are coming into the new Premier League season with greater buoyancy than has ever been seen at the club.
There were players, including Dominic Solanke, Antoine Semenyo, Marcos Senesi and, who had the best seasons of their careers under Iraola and will come into this new season full of confidence.
Others, however, did not enjoy such fortunes last year and saw their stock fall due to injuries, poor timing or initial struggles to adapt to Iraola’s playing style.Some have already moved on, but amongst those who are likely to remain for the 2024-25 season, here is a list of those for whom the next campaign is decisive for their future at the club.
After joining Bournemouth from Bristol City in the summer of 2023 for a reported £25 million, there was a lot of expectation around Alex Scott with many tipping him to be the next big thing in English football.
However, unfortunately for Scott, his first season in the Premier League was marred by injury, due to which he missed all of pre-season and did not make his Bournemouth debut until 21 October.
He then got injured again a few weeks later, spraining ligaments in his right knee against Manchester City.
These injuries meant that Scott made just four appearances before Christmas; a far from ideal start to his Cherries career. Another factor in the somewhat underwhelming start to life in the Premier League for the man from Guernsey was the mightily impressive form of Ryan Christie.
The Scotsman formed a formidable midfield partnership with Lewis Cook and became one of Bournemouth’s most pivotal players, embodying Iraola‘s style of play perfectly.This made the task of breaking into the side so much more challenging for Scott and led to him making just 11 starts during the campaign.
The challenge now is for Scott to fulfil his masses of potential which saw him called up to the England under-21 side last season.With a full pre-season now behind him and a year of learning ‘Iraola-ball’, there is no reason why the 20-year-old cannot become a mainstay of the Bournemouth team.
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