Dank cleverer Transfers
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Quite a few fans and experts were surprised when Bournemouth decided to relieve coach Gary O’Neil of his duties at the end of the 2022/23 season. The Englishman had previously led the Cherries out of the relegation zone and into the safety of the Premier League, but the AFC instead turned to Spaniard Andoni Iraola, who previously made a name for himself with LaLiga team Rayo Vallecano, when it came to future planning. The club from the English south coast remained winless in the first nine league games after Iraola took office and slipped to 19th place in the table – and despite a lot of criticism, they stuck with Iraola. Almost 18 months later, this decision has been more than worth it: Iraola’s up-and-coming team is one of the most positive surprises of the current season so far.
The 4-1 away win in Newcastle last Saturday once again showed what the team is capable of. Bournemouth have already defeated Arsenal and Manchester City and recently picked up a point against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – only a last-minute equalizer from Reece James prevented the west Londoners from winning. The Cherries are now seventh in the table and another three-pointer against Nottingham Forest on Saturday could see them move up to fifth. They are on course for Europe, but how has the club built a team that is capable of showing the limits of teams with much larger budgets?
AFC Bournemouth: recovery thanks to clever transfer policy
In his first full season as head coach, Iraola led his team to a respectable 12th place finish. The foundation stone was already laid back then. Bournemouth played fast, exciting football and increasingly looked well organized defensively. In a league where many foreign coaches have problems adapting, Iraola quickly proved his suitability. A large part of last season’s success was due to the goalscoring abilities of Dominic Solanke – the Englishman scored 19 league goals. However, in the summer, Bournemouth lost their most valuable striker to Tottenham for 64.3 million euros.
Nevertheless, Bournemouth’s transfer policy last year also plays an important role in the current sporting heights. It has almost become an enviable habit for larger clubs to sign unwanted stars, develop them and then sell them on for a hefty profit. For example, Solanke came from Liverpool for 21.2 million euros, Bournemouth generated a profit of 43.1 million euros on the subsequent sale. Defender Nathan Aké once came from Chelsea for 22.8 million euros and later moved on to Manchester City for 45.3 million euros. The money from these sales has been invested wisely in recent years.
Bournemouth replaced Solanke with Evanilson and brought the Brazilian in from Porto for an internal record fee of €37m. Before suffering a recent injury, he had scored five goals in 19 Premier League games and made a strong impression. In the last five seasons, Bournemouth have signed Ilya Zabarnyi, Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez, Antoine Semenyo and Justin Kluivert for a combined total of just €76.8m. The five players mentioned now have a cumulative market value of 138 million euros, which is expected to rise even further with the next market value update in March. The five professionals also form the young backbone of the team.
Andoni Iraola: The perfect match for Bournemouth
A well-functioning recruiting policy coupled with the right coach can become a fearsome combination for opponents. And in Iraola, Bournemouth seem to have found exactly the right man for this. He has already taken the club to heights that many would not have thought possible and if he can take his team to Europe next season he will be assured of a prominent place in the club’s history forever. Was this success foreseeable?
Iván Turmo is Transfermarkt’s area manager in Spain and can tell you more about Iraola’s way of working and his influence during his LaLiga days: “Iraola’s work at Rayo Vallecano was outstanding in the three seasons in which he was in charge. In the first year, the team was promoted, contrary to expectations, to the first division with a courageous and attractive style of football. A philosophy that he then maintained in LaLiga and that even brought the small club close to the European places. His attacking style of play soon made him one of the hottest coaches in Spanish football. The Basque native’s style of play suits the Premier League very well due to his clear desire to attack. And Iraola is willing to take calculated risks.”
During Iraola’s time at Rayo Vallecano, the club defeated FC Barcelona both home and away and Iraola actually remained unbeaten against the Catalan giants. His team also beat Real Madrid 3-2 at the Estadio de Vallecas.
Bournemouth fans had to travel 354 miles from their own stadium to the Magpies’ St James’ Park last Saturday, but the performance of Iraola’s team was worth the effort. At the moment the Cherries are dreaming of European football next season. Even the term Champions League is mentioned frequently these days in the popular holiday resort on the south coast. Why not? The AFC is one of the strongest teams in the league and against fellow promoted team Nottingham Forest they can take the next step towards becoming the winning team of the season on Saturday.
