Thursday 24 May 2018

Is it goodbye to Gradel?

Max Gradel has had a season long loan at Toulouse in Ligue 1 and has been relatively successful with his goal haul of nine from 28 games. But the players time at AFCB could well be over now with Eddie Howe wanting to freshen up the squad with new players, and with Gradel not having been part of Howe's playing team for some time there can be little hope of AFCB fans seeing Max in red and black again.
Will Max continue playing in France?
Toulouse wanted to take Gradel on loan with an option to buy him at the end of the loan spell and at first the Cherries argued against this, but a deal is thought to be in place for him. Bournemouth won't expect to raise much money for the 30 year old, but he has been a player that was a big favourite for many at Dean Court.

Gradel was one of Eddie Howe's first signings in the Premier League in 2015 and I expected Max to be one of the stars for AFCB as they took on the best teams in the land. But in that first August, he damaged his cruciate ligament and missed most of the season. I will remember his goal against Swansea City at home though, after his comeback, when he ran half the length of the pitch to hug Eddie Howe on the touchline. 


Max had a difficult time at AFCB and while he faded from the line ups in Bournemouth's second Premier League season, he was no doubt pleased to get the opportunity to return to France last summer. While it was not Saint-Etienne, he went back to Toulouse who were pleased enough to give him another go in Ligue 1.

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AFCB have been regularly updating fans on the performances of Max overseas and he has been playing fairly well again. There will be no surprise if he plays out the rest of his career in France if AFCB as expected draw a line under his second spell at the Cherries.


Max plays the last play-off game of the season for Toulouse against AC Ajaccio on Sunday 27 May to try and keep Toulouse in Ligue 1. Toulouse won the first leg 0-3 and Max scored in the first play-off match. He is currently Toulouse's top scorer on eight goals.

Premier League Football Fan Survey

Jack Stansfield is studying a master’s degree in sport and exercise psychology at Northumbria University and he has created a thesis project that looks at Premier League fans’ team identification, i.e. how well they support and identify with their team. He needs fans of all Premier League football clubs fill out a relatively short questionnaire of 37 questions looking at team identification and satisfaction with life; it should take no longer than 10 minutes. If you can participate please do by clicking this link

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