Austin - too expensive for the Cherries?

The bidding war is off! No sooner had Leicester City announced their intention to bid for Austin than the Sunday newspapers were full of gossip on the next round of bids likely to take place. But with so many clubs interested in the former Burnley striker, do AFCB have a realistic chance of landing him and are they after him at all? Last night the Bournemouth Echo was suggesting that there was no foundation to the Sunday Sun's article that suggested AFCB were preparing a £14 million bid for the QPR striker.

The record transfer fee for AFCB has already been shattered this summer with the signing of Tyrone Mings at £8 million, but to secure Charlie Austin against the other Premier League hopefuls AFCB might have to part with more than £14 million. If the Cherries were targeting him then it would be quite a task to get QPR to agree to a lower bid than others might be prepared to offer for the striker. With the likes of  Newcastle, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Leicester City all said to be in the chase for Austin, it would be quite a scoop for the recently promoted Cherries to see Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall renew their working relationship with Charlie.

What does all this mean for AFCB? It probably means that the club has more affordable targets to buy. AFCB will have a very explosive forward line whether they bring in another striker or not in my opinion. It's not the end of the word if AFCB are not after Charlie Austin either. One player alone can't keep a team up - unless you are Carlos Tevez! 

There are some great fan opinions on whether AFCB should or should not sign Charlie Austin - just look down the right hand panel on Cherry Chimes to see what fellow AFCB fans think of the possibility of Charlie coming to Dean Court.

Podcast All Departments has a new podcast out later today with Kevin Reeves - make sure you listen in by visiting All Departments' website where you can see lots of methods to tune in or simply listen by clicking on this link.