Luke Garbutt: competition for Daniels?

Those that have been tracing the football back pages for the latest AFCB possible targets should have come across the name of Luke Garbutt by now. The Everton and England U21 international has attracted interest from Liverpool, but if Roberto Martinez has his way the young defender will stay with Everton but is likely to be loaned out to AFCB, according to the Daily Star.

The establish Leyton Baines does not give that many opportunities for Garbutt to play in the top flight and a move to the south coast for a year could give him the kind of platform he needs to be a regular at Goodison. That means that he'll have to try and shift Charlie Daniels from his position at left back and while Ian Harte found that difficult to do last season, a fresh 22-year-old is the kind of prospect that should really give Charlie strong and direct competition. While the versatile Adam Smith has filled in on occasion as a left back, I prefer to see him on the right as a backup for Simon Francis. 

Who will be competing with Charlie Daniels at left back next season? 

While we have not seen many loan players at the club it seems that Eddie is prepared to add players on loan for this coming season. That keeps the transfer costs down and perhaps enables the club to get a few better players than they might otherwise for a high outlay. Garbutt is coming to the end of his contract though this summer and he could even consider a permanent move to the south coast. The potential for him playing for Liverpool is perhaps good from the point of view that he stays in Merseyside, but a new challenge at a club that is rising in talent, creativity and with a hungry young manager just might be hard for Luke Garbutt to resist.

There is not a long list of left backs and AFCB and Luke might fancy his chances of slotting into this team. He only made four appearances for the Toffees in the Premier League last season and while the Europa League will have been good experience for him it will be week-in, week-out football that he'll be after. Eddie Howe will need another left back after not renewing Ian Harte's contract and while Kieran Trippier has chosen to sign for Burnley, Garbutt is a signature that AFCB seem to be chasing hard for now.

Looking at the start of next season, Premier Talk spies that Micah Richards is back in favour - at least for Aston Villa.

Cherries to chase special defender?

So far the transfer window has just seen attack-minded players come into the team. AFCB will surely add a left back but there has also been rumours of right back Kieran Trippier being on AFCB target list, although Spurs and Liverpool are also supposed to be keen on the Burnley defender. Whether another experienced centre back would also improve the side is also a consideration and while Silvan Distan looks set to go back to France rather than join another Premier League club from Everton, he is the kind of player that would add quality and confidence to a newly promoted side like AFCB.

Central defence is an area where I feel all three recently promoted clubs from the Championship could benefit from a major signing. If the Championship was all about scoring lots of goals, the Premier League will shatter teams that can't keep clean sheets. Elliott Ward is the experienced hand at the back, but his lack of games last season puts a lot of pressure on Steve Cook and Tommy Elphick to continue their good form in a more difficult league. Tommy is a good organiser, but this will be a bigger test. Individual mistakes will cost teams and I'd like to see another experienced player come in if the club can find one. Martin Skrtel at Liverpool is likely to sign a new contract at Anfield, Ashley Williams at Swansea City is already their captain and would not entertain a move, nor would captain John O'Shea at Sunderland who signed a two-year extension in October 2014, and I'm not to keen on that many more central defenders in the Premier League (including Jose Fonte) . 

Perhaps Eddie and Jason are happy with what they have. Jason Shackell at Burnley is a player that they know well, but did he do well enough last season? Some say yes. The Championship does not offer many alternatives and not many of the Championship defenders did well at keeping out AFCB's strikers last season. So it is rumoured that AFCB among other clubs (Saints) have been looking at Nantes centre back 27-year-old Papy Djilobodji.

If you look at the bottom six finishing Premier League teams you might find it hard to find many centre backs in those teams that you would give much confidence of doing better next season. Even WBA who finished 13th with experienced defenders like Lescott and had a minus goal difference of 13. Liverpool and Spurs only just managed a positive goal difference despite finishing in the top six, so keeping out goals is going to be just as important as finding goalscorers for AFCB. The keepers that Eddie has brought in have both been to the Premier League grounds and know what it will all be about though and that has to be a help. 

Cherries still targeting young British-based players

With the links that AFCB have through Sean O'Driscoll at the FA with the U19s it is perhaps no surprise that Bournemouth are very interested in bringing more young English Internationals to the club. The thought of bringing in players like Luke Garbutt is refreshing and while Dwight Gayle has not yet been capped, he is another Premier League player who has many years to play, being just 25, and AFCB are not just looking at the usual players that tend to get a move at the end of a Premier League season having failed with their clubs and looking to stay in the top flight. 

I am surprised that Crystal Palace might listen to offers for Gayle but if they have other targets then the money would allow Palace to make a move for someone else. Some 12 goals in 48 appearances is not that bad in the Premier League and a price of £6m will probably tempt a few clubs.

Baily may yet get some more young England internationals joining him at AFCB.

The pace of the transfers should start to pick up now that the season has finished apart from the FA Cup. There is pressure to get players in so that they can be involved in the pre-season training camps and the competition for players has just increased with Norwich City now getting promoted.

We have also seen that Bournemouth are allegedly chasing Kieran Trippier (24) at Burnley and are said to be up against Spurs for his signature. Trippier has also played for the U21s and would be another signing that is coming into his best years. The pull of Spurs may be greater than a reunion with Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall, but we will see.

The pleasing aspect is that AFCB is being linked with players that have something to prove and are not past their sell by date. If a strong young squad can be built at Bournemouth then the potential to grow as a club will really take hold quickly.

This summer will see a lot of English young players involved in the U20s and U21s both involved in tournaments and the teams are said to have some of the best chances they have had in a long time to do well. That will include our own Baily Cargill playing for the U20s in Toulon and I'll be hoping that he impresses.

On Tuesday it was confirmed, however, that AFCB had signed Polish keeper Artur Boruc and there was talk of a second keeper, Australian Federici from Reading FC is also about to sign for the Cherries. SkySports has also linked 23-year-old Ghanaian winger Christian Atsu with a season long loan to AFCB from Chelsea. So 'British-based' players is perhaps more the way AFCB will build its squad for the Premier League.

Good luck to Shaun MacDonald who hopes to put a Welsh shirt on during the European qualifier with Belgium in 12th June.

Life at the top could be slightly Italian for the Cherries

I'd like to think that not much will change for the players and the coaching that Eddie Howe gives the team. Already though Eddie is looking to pick up new ideas and has been mixing with Maurizio Sarri with Empoli in Italy, which can't hurt and he might even be watching some players while he is out there. Empoli take on the giants of Juventas, Inter Milan and Napoli every week in Seire A so there could be very good advice at hand to know how AFCB can get points against the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea. They were only promoted to Serie A last season having been runners up in Serie B, but play entertaining football. I can't help but believe that pooling knowledge from top European coaches is something that more managers should do and any advantage that AFCB can take into the new season is going to be worth millions if the team can stay up.

AFCB will be looking to raise standards higher in the Premier League.

The direction of the play is one thing and it may be that taking on better teams does have major consequences for AFCB. If there is one aspect of the game that stands out for me in the Premier League compared to the Championship it is the quality of strikes from free kicks and the amount of goals from corners. The set-piece is something that the Cherries are going to have to get better at defending against and some Italian methods in that respect may well be what Eddie Howe is currently looking at. Hopefully, we'll hear very soon about whether Artur Boruc is to be the first line of defence in the team for next season. 

Life in the Premier League is no longer a distant dream, it is real and it is here. The job just got much harder for everyone at AFCB. Being prepared is what is now the priority and as well as the addition of some new players (the latest rumours centre on Kieran Trippier of Burnley and Everton youngster Luke Garbutt), the team has to be comfortable in knowing what it faces in the next few months. When the players come back to train they need to be on it from the moment they start training and attention to details is going to be vitally important. I know that AFCB could not have more capable people than Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall to lead the team in this exercise and while the Premier League may have arrived sooner than many of us expected everyone has to adapt to it fast now.

As fans we can enjoy the ride and pause to take it all in. It must be like a whirlwind for those on the inside at the club. The season ticket sales and the fixtures are just the start of it. New shirts, new advertisers and media pressures are going to stretch everyone, but the club is already showing how it wants to remain helpful and friendly to fans that have questions and only want the best for the club. There are, for example, some great questions from fans about season tickets and answers from from the club up on the official AFC Bournemouth website.

I do expect to see an even more professional AFCB though. The expectations on everyone to raise their game is higher and with the world looking on I just know that they will all make us very proud in the Premier League. UTCIAD!