Bournemouth recruitment 'goes under radar'published at 17:04 BST 18 October 2025
FT: Crystal Palace 3-3 Bournemouth
Micah Richards
Former Man City defender to BBC Sport
It's all about the manager and how he wants to play. Bournemouth lost so many players in the summer and brought in £200m from transfers and spent just over half that.
I was nervous at the start of the season because of all the players who left. [Dean] Huijsen was one of my favourite defenders and Milos Kerkez was one of my favourite full-backs at that time.
They also lost Illia Zabarnyi to PSG.
We talk about Brighton with their recruitment but it goes under the radar how well Bournemouth do it - to lose players and bring others in that aren't household names but they fit the system Iraola wants.
They press from the front with energy but the balance is absolutely right. Iraola is top notch with the system he uses and brings out the best in his players.
Keeping Semenyo was also huge. He could have been the one to go and even in the one game they've lost against Liverpool, Semenyo was unplayable - it's not just a purple patch he's in, he's a really good player.
