Bournemouth will not sanction the sale of more than two first-team stars this summer, according to a recent report. It comes as Liverpool-mooted target Milos Kerkez has admitted his agent is working on a trandfer away from the team.
The Cherries have enjoyed an impressive season under Andoni Iraola and are set to compete for a European spot in the final weeks of the campaign, while Bournemouth faces Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend.
The impressive season has, in part, been achieved by an excellent squad that has been assembled at the Vitality over the last few years. The likes of Kerkez – who is close friends with Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai – Dean Huijsen, Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert and Illya Zabarnyi are among the youthful and exciting squad that has been put together on the south coast.
Unsurprisingly, the plethora of burgeoning talent has attracted the interest of Europe’s top sides, including Liverpool. But a report in the Telegraph claims that Bournemouth will not allow its squad to be picked apart this summer, referencing the five previously mentioned players as examples of those attracting interest.
Bournemouth is open to letting young players leave and models itself on attracting top talents and then allowing them to move on for a profit but its said no more than two players will leave this summer. However, the report claims there is a need to sell players this summer and balance the books after the £300M ($383M) invested by owner Bill Foley on transfers in recent years.
Huijsen looks the most likely with clubs seeing his possible signing as “relatively straightforward” given his £50million ($65M) buyout clause. Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have all reportedly registered an interest in the player.
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Meanwhile, Kerkez has given a clear indication that he could move on this summer and said in an interview with The Athletic that he wants to play for an elite club in the future. “Yeah. As a kid, you dream to play at the highest level, win the trophies, be on the best teams,” he explained.
“These are the things that my agent is on. My dad is on. It is not something that they occupy me with because the season is still going, so there’s no point to talk about anything. There’s games left, the FA Cup is important for us — these are big things. And then, like I say, when someone comes [in for you] you never know what’s going to happen or where you’re going to end up. In the summer, we will see what happens.”
Liverpool has been repeatedly linked with a move for the Hungarian. There has even been previous reports that the Reds could try and sign Semenyo, although they have been less prevalent than those relating to Huijsen and Kerkez.
