Nathaniel Clyne will add real quality to AFCB's defence

Bournemouth have improved as a Premier League team in their four seasons at that level but pundits have always criticised the team for its slap-dash defending at times. Now the team is looking more international capped and the signing of Nathaniel Clyne is a huge boost in being another defender who is in the same quality band as Nathaniel Aké.

It is only a loan signing for Clyne, but if he enjoys his football at Bournemouth then there is a good chance that the signing might become permanent over the summer. Bournemouth have plenty of capped midfielders and strikers but the defence is really where there has been a weakness. Nathaniel Clyne steps up the quality in the side and he no doubt has ambitions to get back to playing for England.

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Tomorrow AFCB take on Brighton in the FA Cup and it would be very exciting for the home crowd if Clyne and Solanke put on an AFCB shirt for their debuts for the club. It would add a bit more drama and expectation to the game and Bournemouth were in need of a bit of good news following the injuries and results of recent weeks.

Both new signings help AFCB look forward to a more exciting second half of the season. I would not put it past Howe to also have another target in this window and it could be a central-midfielder with Rubens Loftus-Cheek heading my wish for list. 

Is Callum Wilson for Loftus-Cheek and cash deal value?

The noise has been growing about the possibility of Rubens Loftus-Cheek being a potential January signing for the Cherries with the Daily Mail promoting the idea. This would not normally have caught my attention so greatly if it were not that Rubens is finding it difficult to get a game at Chelsea, and with the injuries to the Cherries, Loftus-Cheek could be the carrot Sarri is willing to dangle in front of AFCB in order to get a chance of signing Callum Wilson.

Is Callum keen on staying at AFCB?

While Eddie Howe has said on record that Callum Wilson is not for sale, the striker's value is currently at its highest and Chelsea are in need of a striker to improve their team. Figures of £40m plus have been banded about as a possible fee to interest Bournemouth, but even if this is not attractive a cash deal plus Rubens Loftus-Cheek opens up a whole new outlook on the potential deal.

The difficulty for Howe is that he'd no doubt like Rubens and would want to keep Callum as well. The market though will dictate where Rubens will go with West Ham also interested in the midfielder. It has taken Wilson a good few years to play the Bournemouth way and while Loftus-Cheek would be a great addition to central midfield in the current circumstances, finding another Callum Wilson might not be so easy in January. Eddie Howe could also consider playing Emerson Hyndman in central midfield, or at least having him on the bench from February, as his loan deal at Hibernian was only for six months.

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If Wilson were to go and leave Bournemouth, would King, Defoe and Mousset, the strike force will be a fair few goals weaker. Playing Brooks or Stanislas as a striker has not really brought as many goals and the importance of Wilson has been seen in recent matches against Liverpool when he was absent, and Wolves, when Callum only came on in the second half.

Every player has a price and if Callum wants to further his career in the capital it would be hard to stop him if he felt the time was right and Chelsea could match AFCB's valuation. But Howe may feel that losing his leading striker is just too much of a gamble, while he can manage the central midfield position with using some of his wide players to fill the gap.

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