Bournemouth should not sign Demarai Gray

Demarai Gray is clearly a player that Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe is a fan of. The Leicester City winger has been pursued by my team’s manager for over two years now.

We first made a bid to Birmingham City back in January 2015. Even the Foxes poaching the talented Englishman over us has not cooled Howe’s interest.

We’ve now apparently made a bid of over twenty million pounds for Gray. I’ll say it now – this madness must end. As much as I want us to bring in another player before the window closes, the Leicester winger is not our man.

Oh Demarai Gray, should have signed yesterday?

Initially I was keen to bring in the flying winger of course. He’s clearly hugely talented, if not quite the finished article.

The thought of what Howe could manage to turn him into – considering his successes with attacking players such as Josh King and Ryan Fraser – is tantalising.

But ultimately Saturday’s narrow defeat to Manchester City has suddenly made it unclear whether we really need to focus on bringing in another winger.

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Winging it

We looked the best we have all season in a 3-5-2 formation on Saturday. This is a set up in which wingers often struggle to thrive though.

So if we stick with that formation moving forward, would Gray really be able to survive in the incredibly demanding position of wing-back?

We’ve also got a stable of players who have played for most of their careers as out and out wingers. These include Ryan Fraser, Jordon Ibe, Marc Pugh, and Junior Stanislas. Do we really need Gray adding competition for a position which might not actually exist? The answer is no.

Team harmony

Another issue is that Gray hasn’t acted in a hugely professional manner this summer, with several rumours that he’s demanding first team football at Leicester City if he’s to stay.

Foxes boss Craig Shakespeare has dealt with these allegations in a calm and even manner, but it can’t be easy having to deal with a player who’s causing such disharmony.

It’s also difficult to see how such a player would get along in our dressing room, one that for so long has been built on a rock solid team ethic. Disruptive individuals are quickly cast out, including Lee Tomlin and – more recently – Max Gradel.

Howe is also a manager who usually asks players to fight hard for their places. So Gray’s demands might not be an ideal match for Eddie’s methods, to say the very least.

Oh Demarai Gray, it shouldn’t ever have to end this way

So if we shouldn’t sign Gray, who should we be targeting? In my mind two positions are more essential to fill.

The first is back up on the right side of defence. Adam Smith needs to be pushed for his place by someone, with Simon Francis’s best days now behind him. West Ham United’s Sam Byram has been put forward as a target, and I would personally love to see him sign.

Second is an experienced midfield playmaker. Howe clearly doesn’t trust Lewis Cook enough to be that player, so if Jack Wilshere is available we should snap him up. He can then look to rebuild his career with us. Surely that’s preferable to having to fight for a place in an Arsenal team that appears to be collapsing around him…