Emerson loan move to Rangers gives midfielder time to peak

I was watching Emerson Hyndman more than most of the AFCB players on Saturday. He has hardly played for the Cherries and it was my first time to see him on the pitch. He was very neat and tidy in the work that he did, but is at that stage where he is perhaps slightly lightweight in terms of the power you need for the Premier League and the loan move to Rangers will certainly toughen Emerson up.

Emerson at the New Den at the weekend.

I had wondered if Emerson would get much game time at AFCB. As well as the players that have already featured of late in central midfield it is clear that Lewis Cook, who was on the bench at Millwall, is also getting ready to play again and Eddie Howe is going to need players that are up to speed for the Premier League. While Emerson is an international player, he has not sampled enough first team football at this level to perhaps hold down a place or really compete for one against the experienced players that Bournemouth have there. So a loan deal opens up an opportunity for him to show how quickly he can learn and play consecutive games, which I imagine is what Eddie Howe believes is necessary for his development at this stage.

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Emerson looks to me like he could be being groomed to eventually replace Andrew Surman when he can no longer have as much impact as he currently does for the Cherries. It may take Emerson at least a season or more to get to Andrew's consistency and playing with some different players in the Scottish Premiership in front of huge crowds at Rangers will be a rapid learning curve for Emerson. Emerson was spotted in Glasgow earlier on Sunday and STV News covered the story.

With a few players now destined not to be at AFCB in January it is much more likely now that Neill Blake will have a busier window that perhaps was first indicated and AFCB look poised to bring in some new names either permanently or on loan.