Having lost key players at the back, it appears Bournemouth’s buy-low sell-high model will be tested if they are to again challenge for a European place
Guardian writers’ predicted position: 10th (NB: this is not necessarily Ben Fisher’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 9th
Three months ago, Bournemouth won at Arsenal for the first time to maintain their hopes of qualifying for Europe with three games to go. It was an impressive comeback victory built on set pieces, Dean Huijsen heading the equaliser from Antoine Semenyo’s long throw – cue the Chill Guy meme celebration – before Evanilson poked in a scruffy but well-worked winner from a corner.
Bournemouth came up short in their quest to play in Europe as a positive season fizzled out after three wins from their final 15 matches. And now three of their back five from that day have departed – Huijsen for Real Madrid, Milos Kerkez for Liverpool and Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was on loan from Chelsea, for Arsenal. The expectation is that Illia Zabarnyi will become the next high-profile exit, with Paris Saint-Germain pushing to sign the 22-year-old.
