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Bournemouth Fan View: Where Howe must strengthen the squad
The clock is ticking. Time is running out. I talk of course, of my side AFC Bournemouth’s lack of activity in the January transfer window. There are dead sloths that have been more active.
So with only a few days until the window slams shut (it’s never “gently closed,” always slammed) I’m still hoping and praying that we’ll bring in a signing or two to give us a boost before a very important looking run of February fixtures.
It’s a month in which we play Stoke City, Huddersfield Town, and Newcastle United. “Mega,” as I think the kids say nowadays.
READ MORE: Revealed: Six of the best under-the-radar January transfers you might have forgotten about
So here are the positions I think we need new players in, ranked from most to least important. Not that this matters as Eddie Howe isn’t signing anyone anyway. But hey – a man can dream. The thought police can’t stop me from doing that, the swines.
Central midfield enforcer
Now I’ll be honest – if we brought just one player in during this window, I’d love it to be an experienced midfielder that isn’t afraid to break up play – and basically just be a general pain in the backside for the opposition.
2016’s Harry Arter would be perfect for this, but sadly that version of the Ireland international is long gone. Instead we have Dan Gosling playing his position. Now I love Gosling, but despite working well with Lewis Cook he can obviously be improved upon.
Sadly we’ve not been linked to any such players, so if we could just clone Moussa Dembele and stick a fake moustache and glasses on him (so that nobody notices we’ve illegally cloned him, obviously) that would be great.
Right back
Simon Francis should never play as a right back for us ever again. Howe has seemingly finally realised he’s a complete liability in that position, and will hopefully therefore see that we need cover desperately in that part of the pitch.
Playing Ryan Fraser as a makeshift right back in the FA Cup should not be happening. It’s simply inexcusable, and we need to bring in someone to fill this gap in the squad. Perhaps someone like the largely forgotten – but talented – Moses Odubajo at Hull City could do a job acting as the deputy to Adam Smith.
Winger
Now we’re getting to positions that aren’t quite as desperate. Basically, the ones that aren’t huge flashing weak spots (sorry, I play too many videogames). Now at the start of the season I might have argued we needed wingers more than anything else, but a few things have altered my view on this.
One is that Jordon Ibe has finally stepped up and looks effective, instead of being the hefty dead weight on Eddie Howe’s shoulders for the entirety of the previous campaign.
Then there’s Ryan Fraser, who has shaken off his early season blues and is causing a lot of problems to opposition full backs. He’s also chipped in with some very important goals.
Finally Junior Stanislas is superb, but horribly injury prone. Along with the now sady past it Marc Pugh (it really hurt me to write those words, trust me) we need more options to pick from to make sure the aforementioned three players have to actually fight for a place in the first eleven.
We’ve been linked to a loan move for Chelsea’s exciting young Charly Musonda. I certainly wouldn’t complain if he came in.
Central defender
We’ve needed one of these for several seasons now. Nathan Aké was a start, but we need another to truly move on from relying on our creaky League One back four. Hopefully Howe will eventually realise this – but it won’t be in this window. Woe is me.
Still…poaching someone like Aden Flint from Bristol City would be nice.
Striker
If Benik Afobe is on his way out, as is rumoured (I quite frankly I wouldn’t be gutted to see him leave), then we could certainly do with adding another striker to the squad.
With Jermain Defoe out for a few more weeks, Josh King returning from injury, and Lys Mousset still very raw we could do with either an exciting young talent or experienced old head to fill any gap Afobe might leave.
Having Danny Ings return to the club would be superb, especially as he’s worked with Howe when he was manager at both Bournemouth and Burnley. Eddie – bring him home. Even if it’s just on loan.
Hey, can’t enough of my ramblings? Then check out AFCB Analysis on YouTube, where I vlog about – shock horror – AFC Bournemouth.
