Bournemouth

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

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Portugal defender Antonio Silva says he is "excited" to join Bournemouth after signing for the Cherries in a deal worth up to £25.7m.

The 22-year-old joins from Benfica, where he has been a regular since breaking into the first team in 2022 and has featured in the Champions League, Europa League and Club World Cup.

It is a key signing for Bournemouth, who identified replacing Marcos Senesi, following his free-transfer move to Tottenham earlier this month, as a priority.

"I am very happy to be here," Silva told the club's website, external. "It is a pleasure to play for Bournemouth and in the Premier League. I can't wait to start the season with my team-mates. I'm excited to be here.

"The mentality is always to win. I will try my best and I will play for the fans. We have everything here that helps us perform on the pitch, and I can't wait to get started."

Club sources said an agreement was only reached after Benfica's Europa League qualifying-round win over Swiss side St Gallen on Thursday.

The fee for Silva is worth an initial £21.4m, plus a further £4.3m in add-ons.

President of football operations Tiago Pinto added: "He is a player we have admired for a long time and we are delighted to welcome him.

"Despite being only 22, he has already built an outstanding level of experience at one of Europe's biggest clubs, playing consistently in domestic, European and international competitions.

"Those experiences have helped shape him into a defender with real maturity and leadership qualities. He is ambitious, has a proven winning mentality and knows what it takes to compete for trophies."

Silva is Bournemouth's second signing of the summer after the arrival of striker Alvaro Rodriguez from Elche in a deal worth up to £25.7m.

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Bournemouth forward Eli Junior Kroupi has suffered a foot injury which is set to rule him out for three to four months and Alexander Smith, senior reporter at the Daily Echo, believes he will be "a big miss" for the side.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent's Jordan Clark after the Cherries beat Augsburg 5-2 in a pre-season friendly in Austria, Smith said: "There is a bit of frustration over the freak nature of it.

"He was just having a shot and felt it go and it's one of those weird ones that happens and nobody knows why.

"From a transfer point of view, I guess fans might be a bit grateful that there might not be any further speculation this summer about his future, but obviously he is out for a prolonged period and was one of the club's most important players - particularly towards the back end of last season."

Kroupi scored 13 goals in 33 Premier League appearances during his debut campaign with the Cherries.

"A big miss, but speaking to Marco Rose, he feels confident in his forward division that they can cover him without missing him too much. Of course you miss him because he is such a good player, but he believes they have got adequate cover. I think if Bournemouth don't bring anyone in, they'll be happy."

Hit play below to hear the full chat or listen on BBC Sounds here

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

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Antonio Silva would be a key signing for Bournemouth, who identified replacing Marcos Senesi, following his free-transfer move to Tottenham earlier this month, as a priority.

Club sources say the £26m move for Silva has required patience, with an agreement only reached after Benfica's Europa League qualifying-round victory over Swiss side St Gallen on Thursday.

Silva has been a regular for Benfica since breaking into the first team in 2022 and has featured in the Champions League, Europa League and Club World Cup.

He has 20 caps and was in Portugal's squads for the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024 but was not selected for this summer's tournament.

Silva is expected to become the Cherries' second signing of the summer after the arrival of striker Alvaro Rodriguez from Elche in a deal worth up to £25.7m.

Bournemouth, under new boss Marco Rose, are aiming for a summer of stability after selling more than £200m worth of players last year.

They are determined to resist offers for three of their key players - Alex Scott, Rayan and Eli Junior Kroupi - though the latter is set to miss three to four months because of injury.

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Winger Marcus Tavernier believes Bournemouth are "heading in the right direction" after concluding their pre-season tour in Austria with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Augsburg.

The contest against the Bundesliga opponents was played over four 30-minute periods and Tavernier, Evanilson, Alex Toth, Ben Gannon-Doak and Enes Unal were all on the scoresheet.

"It is a great feeling to end the camp on another win," said Tavernier, external, who was also wearing the new 2026-27 purple away kit that was launched on Thursday.

To continue building fitness, Marco Rose fielded two different starting XIs for the first and second 60 minutes, and also made changes within those halves.

The Cherries return home with two wins in two from this camp, having also beaten St Pauli 4-1.

Jordan Clark
BBC Radio Solent reporter

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Eli Junior Kroupi is facing three to four months out with a foot injury that he suffered out in Austria at Bournemouth's training camp. He has undergone surgery.

It seemed like it was a freak injury when he was taking a shot in training earlier this week but Bournemouth are going to be without their top goalscorer now for the foreseeable.

It will be a large chunk of their Europa League campaign, so you're looking at an October or November return, but that's depending on how well the recovery goes.

It's a huge blow for Bournemouth. It's not the breaking news that everyone was expecting on the Kroupi front with the news refusing to go away about a big money move for him to one of Europe's top clubs. It seems that will come to an end now with the injury that he has sustained.

The message to me from Bournemouth is that no one is for sale.

You might look at that as a Bournemouth fan as good news, but the fact you're going to be missing Kroupi now for such a significant part of the season while going into the Europa League for the first time is a huge loss.

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Bournemouth head coach Marco Rose has added Patrick Eibenberger to his coaching set-up before the 2026-27 season.

Eibenberger will take up the position of first-team coach, having worked as Rose's assistant at RB Leipzig since September 2022.

The pair will now continue their long-standing partnership - which includes spells at RB Salzburg, Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund - at Vitality Stadium.

The 39-year-old's focus will be on "training organisation, athletic performance and session sequencing, while also being heavily involved in set plays".

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Bournemouth's David Brooks told BBC Radio Solent he missed the 4-1 friendly win over German side St. Pauli as a precaution after feeling "something very, very small".

Brooks explained it was new boss Marco Rose who decided to play it safe and not risk his midfielder.

As the Cherries prepare to face Augsburg on 30 July in Saalfenden, Austria, Brooks spoke to BBC Radio Solent, who have a team following Rose's side on tour.

Brooks explained: "We need to be fit for the start of the season; that's an emphasis we have each and every year. It is very important that we start well this year. The schedule is going to be very busy and there's not going to be much time for training."

The Cherries will have Europa League football added to their schedule next season, which could add an extra 15 competitive games to their fixture list.

Last season, Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth featured in 40 matches in all competitions, in comparison to Aston Villa, who were crowned Europa League champions - Unai Emery's side competed in 56 games in all competitions.

"The aim was always to get there with Bournemouth," said Brooks. "The club have grown from strength to strength, especially when Bill [Foley] took over and the ambitions he had set into us.

"That's why a lot of the lads want to stay now. It is becoming a lot more of an attractive club to be at and not just a stepping stone.

"It's a credit to everyone who is running the football club," added Brooks.

Listen to Brooks' interview below or on BBC Sounds

Come back to your Bournemouth page for more tour updates

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BBC Radio Solent's Jordan Clark is on tour with Bournemouth and on a special episode of the Cherries: Unpicked podcast, he considered the club's striker options.

"A nine-and-a-half is a nice way of describing Evanilson," said Clark.

"It is interesting that Marco Rose thinks he will score more goals playing slightly deeper.

"Last season, the goals were missing for him, but there was never any dispute about the work he does for the team.

"Rose may have found a position, or a way, to get more goals out of him.

"Surely Eli Junior Kroupi will be the number nine, and Bournemouth spent £25.7m on Alvaro Rodriguez.

"There has been talk of a friendship developing between Evanilson and Rodriguez.

"Behind the scenes, Bournemouth are hoping it develops into something fruitful in terms of a strike partnership.

"The Cherries have options. Daniel Jebbison is also out here. Who knows if they will all still be here at the start of the season?

"If Rose wants to play with two strikers, he certainly has the options."

Listen to Cherries Unpicked - on tour in Austria

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Video assistant referees should only be used to change "blatantly incorrect" decisions and clear missed incidents, say European refereeing officials.

Chief refereeing officers from all 55 European national football associations met last week with Uefa refereeing officials and a representative from the International Football Association Board (Ifab) to address recent changes to the game's laws.

Attendees said "lengthy, microscoping reviews" indicate VAR has gone beyond its original scope.

When VAR was added to the laws of the game in 2018 by football's rulemakers Ifab, its "philosophy" was "minimum interference - maximum benefit", with the intention of reducing "unfairness caused by clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents" relating to goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity.

Uefa said that at its recent meeting that refereeing bosses agreed a return to those original aims is needed.

"It was reiterated that, in accordance with protocol, VAR must only intervene in situations of 'clear and obvious' error, ie. when a referee decision is blatantly incorrect or when the referee has missed a clear incident," Uefa said in a statement.

"VAR is not meant to re-referee the game, it is an essential support to the referees, who must remain at the centre of all decision-making.

"Lengthy, microscoping reviews are often a symptom revealing that the decision on the field was not clearly and obviously incorrect, and should therefore be limited."

A fresh episode of Cherries: Unpicked has landed.

This week, Jordan Clark is joined by Bournemouth Echo sports journalist Alexander Smith on location at the Cherries' pre-season training camp in Austria.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and don't forget to subscribe to get each episode into your My Sounds feed.

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Bournemouth centre-back James Hill says that new manager Marco Rose is allowing him and his Cherries team-mates to dream.

Following the departure of former manager Andoni Iraola, Rose was brought in to fulfil the Spaniard's legacy, leading Bournemouth in their first European campaign - in addition to performing competitively in the Premier League following a sixth-placed finish.

Hill said Rose has made a strong start and praised his encouragement of a "family-first" approach as the defender awaits the birth of his first child.

"In terms of player management, he's been absolutely fantastic," Hill told club media. "He's spoken to everyone as individuals as well as the group. He's let us know his standards as well. If we ever drop below par he lets us know because he knows the level we can reach as a group."

Rose arrives at Vitality stadium with a wealth of experience in Europe, having managed in the Champions League and Europa League with former clubs.

"Since he's come in you can really see the European experience that he has that he's getting us ready for," Hill said.

"You can see that some of his tactical ideas will really improve everybody. We really want to work under him and we're really excited for what's to come."

The German coach led Red Bull Salzburg to the Europa League semi-finals in 2018 - and Hill sees no reason why Bournemouth could not replicate a deep run in the competition.

"We say a lot in the team: 'Why not dream big? Why not do well in these competitions?'" Hill said.

"It's obviously going to be difficult because of the quality of these teams - they're phenomenal. But first and foremost, we have to believe in ourselves.

"You can see from last season, 18 games unbeaten - who would've thought we'd have been able to do that? The way the club, every season, has achieved something really good - we break our own records - is incredible."

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English football is set to implement a trial to try to eradicate the goalkeeper tactical timeout this season, BBC Sport can reveal.

The Football Association, Premier League, English Football League, National League and Women's Super League have agreed on the measure, pending permission from the International Football Association Board (Ifab).

Earlier this year, Ifab decided against changing the law and invited leagues to volunteer for trials.

Pro Ref, led by chief refereeing officer Howard Webb, has been in discussions with the leagues to determine how to tackle the issue. It settled on a team having to remove an outfield player from the field.

If a referee signals that the physio can come on to treat a goalkeeper, the coach will have 10 seconds to nominate another player to leave the pitch for one minute, telling the fourth official of their choice.

If no player has been selected within 10 seconds, the captain must leave the field.

Read more on the trial

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Bournemouth keeper Djordje Petrovic believes the Cherries can "achieve big things this season" as they prepare for their first European campaign.

"It is the first time in the club's history to be part of Europe and the Europa League and I believe that we can achieve big things this season," Petrovic told BBC Radio Solent.

"It is going to be a lot of games but we are going from game to game and first of all the focus is to be ready for the first game of the season and then we are going to build on it. We are very excited and happy that we can play four competitions this season."

On what new manager Marco Rose likes from his goalkeepers, Petrovic said: "We want to play high so he wants us to be high, communication with the defensive line is very important for him. These two things we have worked on in these last two weeks so I believe that in the next couple of months there will be a lot more things to learn from him and demand from him."

Petrovic said the training camp in Austria will be "very important" for preparing the squad for European football in the upcoming season.

He added: "For the chemistry and the connection between us, we didn't change a lot, just a few new players and that will be a good lesson for them to become part of the group so it's very important and we have everything here to enjoy being together and spending this 10 days in Austria."

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here

Jordan Clark
BBC Radio Solent reporter in Saalfelden

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Bournemouth's opening pre-season friendly under Marco Rose finished in a 4-1 victory for the Cherries against German second-tier side St Pauli - but what did we learn from the new boss' first 90 minutes.

The big standout was Evanilson. The Brazilian very rarely played anywhere but the number nine role under previous manager Andoni Iraola- and you can understand why because he was their record signing brought in to replace Dominic Solanke and get the Cherries goals.

From what we have heard so far and what we saw on Friday, it seems Rose has other plans for Evanilson. Not that he won't play at number nine, but the boss quite fancies him a bit deeper in the number 10 role. Rose thinks Evanilson will get a lot more goals from playing a little bit deeper.

That was probably the one thing missing from his game last season - the kind of goal return you would expect from a striker that cost as much as he did, despite the rest of his game being so important to the way the Cherries played under Iraola.

Hear more from Jordan on the key talking points from Bournemouth's friendly below or listen here on BBC Sounds

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Bournemouth are not looking to sell striker Eli Junior Kroupi, despite interest from Spanish giants Barcelona. (Marca - in Spanish), external

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Marco Rose kicked off his Bournemouth reign with a 4-1 victory over German side St. Pauli in the Cherries' opening pre-season fixture.

Rose's side fell a goal behind in the first half, but goals from Ben Gannon-Doak, Harold William, Daniel Jebbison and Bafode Diakite helped Bournemouth seal a victory in Saalfelden, Austria.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, the Cherries boss said he was "pleased" with the result and that he was content with the performance from his players.

"I saw many good things, but it is good to have a first game with footage and work on things that we need to improve.

"We wanted to be Bournemouth, and we wanted to be proactive, and I think that is what we saw today," said Rose.

Alex Scott, who has been linked with a move away from Bournemouth, featured, but Eli Junior Kroupi did not play due to a lack of training.

When asked about the speculation which surrounds Scott and Kroupi, Rose said: "I am not here to comment on any rumours or things like this."

Although Rose declined to comment on potential outgoings at Bournemouth, he said it was "not a secret" that the south coast side are aiming to sign defender, Antonio Silva from Benfica.

"We want this player, the player wants to join us and the clubs are in talks – that's nothing new. Now we are waiting for him," added Rose.

Hear the full interview with Rose by pressing play below and to get more reaction and analysis on the game listen back on BBC Sounds here

As Bournemouth prepare for the new season, they have unfamiliar territory added to their schedule - European football.

The Cherries have already made a stand in their attempts to keep their star players at the Vitality Stadium for the upcoming campaign by rejecting a £64m bid for Alex Scott from Chelsea.

Marcus Tavernier told BBC Radio Solent: "We're in a position now where we have reached Europe, and we want to keep our squad and the club have made a stand on that."

After an emphatic 2025-26 campaign under Andoni Iraola, the Cherries will feature in the Europa League for the upcoming season and Tavernier said they plan to make a mark in their debut European football campaign.

"We are not just there to make numbers up, we want to compete and go as far as possible and reach the later stages. The only way you do this is to keep your best players and that is what the club is looking to do," added Tavernier.

Although the Cherries' new boss Marco Rose aims to play a similar style of football to Iraola, the attacking midfielder said the side "have to adapt a little bit."

"He knows our team is very suited to a certain style of play. He is wanting to do that as well with some small tweaks that we are working on, and we are going to implement that in the pre-season matches."

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds here or by pressing play above

Jordan Clark
BBC Radio Solent reporter in Saalfelden

It's matchday for Bournemouth in Austria, with Marco Rose's side taking on German second-tier side St Pauli at Saalfelden Arena later on (15:00 BST).

We'll get our first look at Rose's style of play and hopefully some minutes for new striker Alvaro Rodriguez.

Rose has often played with two strikers at his previous clubs, so it will be interesting to see if he does that with the Cherries and what partnerships he chooses.

Bournemouth have Rodriguez, Evanilson, Eli Junior Kroupi, Enes Unal and Daniel Jebbison as their senior attacking options out here in Austria.

The Cherries are without centre-back Veljko Milosavljevic, who has not travelled because of injury.

We're also expecting Rayan and Tyler Adams to arrive at some point over the weekend, with the pair travelling later than the rest of the squad after their involvement at the World Cup with Brazil and the United States respectively.

Our Solent Sport show will come live from the Saalfelden Arena after the game from 18:00 BST - so make sure to listen either on BBC Radio Solent or on the BBC Sounds app.

Hit play above to hear the latest update from Jordan in Austria or listen on BBC Sounds here

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Bournemouth's academy manager Sam Gisborne has said it is "very pleasing" that the Cherries have been awarded Category One status.

"Massive moment for us. Massive moment for the players, the parents and everyone involved," Gisborne told BBC Radio Solent.

On what Category One status means, Gisborne added: "What people will see is better games, access to better opposition so you'll see us playing current Premier League teams week in, week out.

"The first year at Category One will be similar to Category Two, but as you grow, you get access to the international club, the EFL Trophy and then you are accessing games against men's teams or international opposition. The opportunities that our boys get will be against better opposition.

"There's still loads and loads of work to do, but we're happy that we are at this status now and we can move forward."

Gisborne added that being a Category One club "allows us the opportunity to recruit nationally at certain ages so we now have access to talent all over the country, which is massive for the football club".

"We now have better opportunity to affect the first team, which is exactly why we are here and what we want to do," he said.

Hit play below to hear more about Bournemouth's Category One academy status, or listen here on BBC Sounds

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We asked you to pick one player you would like to move on this summer and one realistic target you want Bournemouth to bring in before the transfer window shuts.

Here are some of your suggestions:

Clive: The player I would move on is Max Aarons, who is one of our most ineffective right-backs. To replace him, I would bring in Ainsley Maitland-Niles from Lyon. He would give us physicality and strength in an area where we need more.

Mike: We should be looking at John Stones on a free. Adds experience and composure to a team who will miss Marcos Senesi's ability to bring the ball forward and pick out passes from the back.

Roan: Alex Scott would definitely be the first to leave the Bournemouth roster this season, especially after his refusal to sign a new contract. Cashing in on his huge asking price of £80m is the most logical move. As for the most realistic replacement, Roma's Manu Kone is an amazing option. His performances last season were great, as are his physical and defensive capabilities. His asking price is in the £50m-£60m range, which would allow us to strengthen in other areas. We are in need of a player with real experience on the European and world stage.

Robert: One in would most certainly be Marc Cucurella, although he has signed for Real Madrid. He is a left-sided reader of the game, a player who always seems to have space to help a team member with a safe pass, the team's 'get out of jail' card.

Bournemouth's Tyler Adams, who is valued at about £35m, is an option for Manchester United as they look to strengthen in midfield. (Mail), external

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