Bournemouth’s Justin Kluivert reacts to Marcus Tavernier amid West Ham links
Bournemouth are braced to lose another star as manager Andoni Iraola fights to keep his best players this summer.
Iraola has already had to deal with the loss of centre-back Dean Huijsen, left-back Milos Kerkez and goalkeeper Kepa.
An injury to midfielder Lewis Cook has also hit the squad, with the 28-year-old set to be out until after the September international break.
The Cherries though started their pre-season with an impressive 3-0 victory over fellow Premier League club Everton, before further games in America against Manchester Untied and West Ham.
Bournemouth are looking to improve on their ninth placed Premier League finish last season, where they finished nine points below the European places.
Iraola could be handed two more blows
Marcus Tavernier could be the next player to depart with Bournemouth placing a £30million valuation on the 26-year-old amid interest from West Ham.
Tavernier started the friendly against Everton before taking to Instagram to share pictures from the match.
Team mate Justin Kluivert liked the post, who was not part of the squad for the Toffees encounter.
The Dutchman has also attracted interest from Bayer Leverkusen, who need to replace Florian Wirtz who left to join Liverpool.
Bournemouth impress despite transfer links
Football Insider Verdict
Bournemouth have started their pre-season in excellent fashion despite speculation over some of their key players.
The Cherries were convincing winners against Everton, with three second half goals dispatching the Toffees and there was a clean sheet for new goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
Iraola selected Marcos Senesi and James Hill as his centre-back pairing amid Spurs pursuing Illia Zabarnyi.
The Spanish manager has been able to keep Antoine Semenyo from joining Spurs, but the Ukrainian centre-back looks set to depart.
It would have been a relief for Iraola to see Everton cause few problems for his side and new signing Adrien Truffert also enjoyed a successful debut in defence.
However, losing Tavernier and Kluivert would hit the creativity and goals in the Cherries side, and Iraola cannot afford to let both leave in the same window.
| Appearances | 32 |
| Goals | 3 |
| Assists | 6 |
West Ham’s potential approach for Tavernier though could be too tempting to turn down, but if Bournemouth do want to break into the European spots then they need to show ambition and keep the duo.