Bournemouth

Image source, AFC Bournemouth

Bournemouth have released their 2024-25 away kit, with inspiration taken from a once divisive classic early 90s shirt that is now popular with supporters.

The club said: "The once controversial kit has become a staple amongst the Cherries fan base and the purple and green combination is reimagined here against a white base to provide yet another striking combination which will be worn during away matches in the upcoming season."

Cherries fans, what do you think? Let us know here, external

Image source, Getty Images

New signing Dean Huijsen believes Bournemouth can "beat the record" Premier League points total achieved by Andoni Iraola's side last season.

The Cherries finished 12th on 48 points in Iraola's first campaign in charge despite a shaky start in which they did not win any of their first nine games.

"I think we can have a really good season ahead," Huijsen told the club's media team in his first interview since arriving from Juventus.

"I think we can beat the record with the team we have. So far we've kept all our key players so I'm really excited. Hopefully we can strive to push for something.

"The club is really going upwards. I hope in the next years we can maybe achieve European football and just progress as a club.

"The team play really exciting football. Really progressive, forward football.

"As a club, the coach and the directors gave me a really good feeling. I spoke to him [Iraola] and we had a really good talk so I'm really excited and happy."

Hiujsen, 19, spent last season on loan at Roma and believes the education he has received in Serie A has prepared him well for the rigors of the Premier League.

"Defensively I've improved a lot from when I arrived at Juventus at 16," he added.

"Italy is famous and they really teach you the ins and outs of defending, where to stand and how to run. I think I can take that here and help the team.

"I'm a defender that is really good on the ball. I score quite a lot for a defender. I like playing forward, attacking football. That's how the team plays so I am excited."

Image source, AFC Bournemouth

The Cherries will wear a "special commemorative kit" for their first home game of the Premier League season against Newcastle United on Sunday, 25th August to mark 125 years of AFC Bournemouth.

The kit will feature an anniversary crest to celebrate two key milestones - their 125th anniversary and a decade since the Cherries were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history.

The club will also be releasing a bespoke "1899-2024 range" and a limited amount of boxed commemorative shirts that feature the match date and opposition in the centre of the shirt.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Players like Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund are already suffering from hamstring injuries two weeks before the season even starts - and they say the modern preparation regimes are better, safer and more scientific!

They probably are better. At least the players do not have to go through some of the borderline sadistic routines that previous generations did. Back then, after a decent length of summer break, pre-season meant working incredibly hard over a short period of time to get yourself back in top condition fast.

Sprinting up and down gigantic sand dunes against the clock until many players were physically sick was de rigueur, alongside other road runs and track work.

Here is the weird part: I used to look forward to that, the way a class swot looks forward to exams. Being smaller, lighter and a committed long-distance runner all my young life, even before I became a pro footballer, it was, if not exactly a piece of cake, then certainly much easier for me than most of the rest of the team.

I have asked many modern managers what they would prefer to do in a perfect world during their pre-season. The most common answer is "just about anything other than what we are forced to do now!"

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Teenage defender Dean Huijsen has been described as a player with "exciting potential" after his move to Bournemouth from Juventus was confirmed.

He has signed a six-year contract with the Premier League club.

The Cherries agreed a £12.6m deal to sign Huijsen last week, and it could rise to £15.2m should conditions for performance-related bonuses be met.

The Netherlands-born 19-year-old, who made his Spain Under-21 debut in March, spent the second half of last season on loan at Roma.

"We are delighted to bring in a player of such high calibre on a long-term deal," said Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake.

"Dean is someone that has such exciting potential and we are all excited to see where his journey with the club will go."

We asked for your views on Bournemouth's 2024-25 home kit, inspired by the kit the team wore when they won promotion to the Premier League in 2014-15.

Here are some of your comments:

Howard: A very smart kit, the smartest we have had in recent years in fact. It looks really special with the gold stripe which is a great tribute to the team a decade ago. All things considered, the price is really not bad too and refreshing to see no increase from last year.

Colin: I like the new kit very much, a touch of class.

Fin: Not bad. I would like it more if it had the cherries design like on the Michael B Jordan kit and more stripes.

Nathan: Great launch video. Okay kit. But horrible sponsor. Really hoping there is an option to purchase without. I've got hopes we've gone a bit bolder for the away and third kits.

Image source, Getty Images

Pat Nevin, former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger writing in his Football Extra newsletter:

The pre-season friendlies are in full swing and let's be straight about this, the players generally hate these games, whatever they say.

They clearly haven't had enough rest in the summer, it is a grind getting your body back into peak shape, especially if the accumulated injuries from last season haven’t been allowed to fully recover.

The games themselves are weird affairs, where you would like to win but that is nowhere near the most important thing. Fitness, integrating new players, possibly a new manager and sometimes a new system are each more important. You also know full well that it is a hotch-potch of a team selection to give players minutes. The fans, mass media and social media will read far too much into every game and every performance.

From within the team itself, there are different motivations. A young or new player being given his first chance will be racing about like an overexcited spaniel. Other experienced players will be easing themselves back into it, the primary concern in their minds is to be fit and healthy come the first weekend of the Premier League season.

‌Deep down they don't worry if they get thumped by Celtic or DC United on their US tours, nobody at Chelsea or Aston Villa will remember or care about these results in two weeks' time.

‌Unless of course you are a DC or indeed Celtic fan. The Celts just beat Chelsea and Man City. Now that is impressive pre-season form or is that just Scottish bias.

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Bournemouth have revealed their home kit for the 2024-25 season in tribute to the ten-year anniversary of their promotion to the Premier League in 2015.

The red and black striped kit features a gold pinstripe which was seen on the home kit a decade ago in the Championship.

The kit launch video features long serving current squad members Adam Smith and Tommy Elphick as well as club legend Marc Pugh who played a vital role in the Cherries' promotion to the top-flight for the first time.

Bournemouth fans, what do you make of the new kit? Let us know here, external

David Lockwood
BBC Sport Editorial Sustainability Lead

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Los Angeles or Chesterfield? San Diego or Salford?

The pre-season destinations of 20 Premier League clubs may be varied, but the issue remains the same - the impact of so many flights.

Half (10) of the clubs have flown to the United States for friendlies; three have travelled to the Far East and the rest are in Europe and the UK.

Manchester United's pre-season schedule see them flying almost 13,000 miles playing fixtures in Norway, Scotland, and across the US. Chelsea and Tottenham are also expected to fly in excess of 12,000 miles.

In contrast, Everton will fly the least, with just one fixture outside the UK in the Republic of Ireland.

Spurs and Newcastle also played an exhibition fixture in May - three days after the season finished - for which they both flew to Melbourne, Australia, a game Alan Shearer described as “madness”. Add in those air miles and both teams will have travelled in excess of 30,000 air miles in the close-season, equivalent to more than once around the globe, to play in non-competitive matches.

Newcastle and Spurs both have a target to be Net Zero by 2030, while Manchester United and Chelsea are in process of establishing an emissions reduction plan.

Net Zero requires the reduction and removal of all 'non-essential emissions' - so are these games essential?

Wycombe's David Wheeler is a leading sustainability campaigner in football and told BBC Sport: "These games are only necessary in the sense that the clubs want to make more money and grow their fan base".

He added: "The vast majority of players don't want to be away from their families, they don't want to be travelling around the world after a full slog of a season. They're overworked and injuries have gone through the roof, so there is a synergy between player welfare and planetary welfare."

An estimated travelling group of 30 flying 12,864 air miles business class generates around 200 tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of 500,000 miles driven by an average petrol car, or the entire annual emissions for a year of 16 people in the UK.

Tottenham said it is "committed to minimising its environmental impact" in all its operations, "which will take time and effort". The club says it "ensures" all teams travel "as sustainably as possible throughout the season". It "measures, manages and reports on travel emissions" and will offsets "where possible."

Read more about the Premier League's pre-season air miles here

We asked for your views on Dean Huijsen, who will sign for Bournemouth subject to completing his medical.

Here are some of your comments:

Richard: Very exciting that we are now attracting players to our club ahead of giants of Serie A and the Bundesliga! Times have changed over the years.

Keith: The Huijsen deal looks another shrewd piece of of business in the mould of Kerkez and Zabarnyi.

Charles: A young player that appears to tick the boxes for Bournemouth. Should fit in with the young squad and a possible investment for the future.

Stew: He seems good value. I really hope his apparent arrogance gets to every striker in the Premier League. Go on youngster, wind them all up.

Tom: Great signing!

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth have agreed a £12.6m deal to sign defender Dean Huijsen from Juventus.

The 19-year-old's deal could rise to £15.2m should conditions for performance related bonuses be met.

Huijsen made his senior debut for the Italian giants in October 2023, before spending the second half of the season on loan at Roma where he played 14 times.

The move is subject to a medical at the Vitality Stadium.

Are you happy with your new defender Bournemouth fans? Do you think Huijsen is worth the fee?

Let us know here, external

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter in Loa Angeles

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Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola was not about to let a narrow penalty shootout defeat by Arsenal spoil his overall reflections on a positive trip to the United States.

It is a decade since the Cherries' last visit - and this one was on a totally different scale, against high-profile opposition.

Iraola is delighted at how his players performed in draws against Wrexham and Arsenal.

But he understands there is a wider dimension to the two-match visit to California.

"Arsenal are used to coming here but it is something very important for us as a club," he said.

"Maybe lot of the people didn't know us or our players. Now they will be looking more at AFC Bournemouth.

"It takes a lot of time to build a brand. We are very happy. At the open training session [on Monday] there were a lot of people, including some who made the trip from England to be here.

"It is very good for the club."

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal opened their three-match tour of the United States by beating Bournemouth 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Los Angeles.

Fabio Vieira gave Arsenal a first-half lead when he met Reiss Nelson's deep cross on the volley and drove it first time into the far bottom corner.

In a competitive game, Karl Hein denied Dominic Solanke then Daniel Jebbison - who was signed from Sheffield United this summer - but had no chance of keeping out Antoine Semenyo’s strike, which hit Omar Rekik as he tried to close the effort down and dropped into the far corner.

It may only be a pre-season friendly but what did you take away from the game?

Arsenal fans, what did you think?, external

Bournemouth supporters, have your say here, external

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Bournemouth are set to install over 600 solar panels at their training ground as they look to reduce the club's carbon emissions.

The Cherries have announced a three-year agreement with energy supplier Utilita to become the club's energy and sustainability partner.

The delivery of the solar panels is part of the deal.

The array will be across the main roof and pitch maintenance building, with the club saying it will reduce annual carbon emissions "by 30,000kg, in addition to a cost saving of £1.5m."

The agreement will also see collaboration on a number of campaigns, including a 20-week initiative with the Community Sports Trust to create awareness locally around green energy and solar power.

This development adds to the Cherries' existing initiatives to become more sustainable, which have included reducing plastic waste with introducing reusable cups since 2018-19 and taking part in the Green Football Weekend by encouraging fans to score 'green goals'.

The effects of adverse weather related to climate change has been increasingly felt in football, with a study last year showing extreme weather has affected 40% of football players and spectators.

One area all Premier League clubs can address to reduce their carbon footprint is their travel, as shown in previous BBC Sport research.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

It isn't quiet in one specific part of the major football clubs - the acquisitions department.

I know that because I was once the acquisitions department - well me and the manager mostly. While each player returned from holidays like a bronzed Adonis, we were cooped up in a small darkened room, beavering the daylight hours away like vampires.

There is plenty of guesswork in the media and a fair bit of leaking from the players and their people, but the clubs usually try to keep their transfer moves as quiet as possible.

If word gets out that a player is available, they know they might lose him to another club or else the price will increase as a bidding war erupts.

‌These are high stakes games and many are impressed by those who gamble and go early.

Manchester City have always been good enough, and let's be honest wealthy enough, to be able to do this well.

The problem is that some clubs are trying to do the same thing and are ending up paying top dollar for less able players, because they haven't done their due diligence in the market.

This is another area where the use of data, or maybe over-reliance on pure data, comes into play - feed all of the numbers in, let the technology do the crunching, and out comes the answer.

The problem is that everyone else has got the same or similar data.

What is needed, of course, is good human knowledge and the vision to aid the use of the information they have got. This is why these departments should be busy just now, they shouldn't just be doing deals which are admittedly very complex legal and financial documents these days.

Even more time should be spent on ensuring the new £75m player hasn't got a hidden weakness in his game or even the odd skeleton in his closet.

Pat Nevin was writing for the BBC Football Extra Newsletter

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Defender Illia Zabarnyi has said Bournemouth "don't have a limit" after last season's record Premier League points tally.

In an interview with club media, external after signing a new five-year contract at Vitality Stadium, the 21-year-old also spoke about pre-season, Andoni Iraola and his best memories of the 2023-24 campaign.

On building on the Cherries winning 48 points to achieve a 12th-place finish in the top flight, Ukraine international Zabarnyi said: "I trust in my guys and I trust in myself. We don't have a limit."

Looking back on last season, he picked out the 3-0 victory at Manchester United - which BBC Sport chief football news reporter Simon Stone at the time said "must go down as one of the most famous triumphs in Bournemouth's history" - as a highlight.

"Winning at Old Trafford, a dream stadium, and beating Manchester United is incredible," Zabarnyi added.

Iraola's side are in the United States as they continue their pre-season, which the centre-back described as "the most important part" of the campaign.

Asked what influence Iraola had on his decision to agree fresh terms, Zabarnyi said the Spaniard is "a great coach", adding: "I like his ideas. It's good what he has given us."

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth owner Bill Foley "believes" highly-rated Dominic Solanke will be playing for the Cherries next season.

Solanke made 42 appearances for the Cherries last season, scoring 21 goals and registering four assists.

Exclusively chatting with BBC Sport from Santa Barbara while the Cherries are on a pre-season tour of the United States, Foley tackled transfer interest in the striker and his £65m release clause.

"I believe Dom is going to be with us this coming year," said Foley. "He has a release clause, which is very expensive.

"We shouldn't reveal anything about the contract, but that area [reported £65m] sounds roughly correct.

"I guess if someone comes for him, we are going to have to replace him.

"We have two or three candidates that we have lined up, but I believe Dom will be here next year - and I believe he is going to score 21 or 22 goals."

Foley also discussed the European ambitions of manager Andoni Iraola and his squad, adding: "We have big aspirations, but we are patient.

"Our goal this year is modest. Can we move into the top eight or nine, maybe even sneak into Europe?

"Our real goal is to play in Europe, to give our players a chance to experience Europe, and do it with little Bournemouth."

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views after Bournemouth's 1-1 draw with Wrexham in the USA.

Here are some of your responses:

Paul: What was the value about playing this sort of low-level game? It just put our players at risk of long or short-term injury. Good holiday though!

John: Very good match but so sad about the injuries.

Rolf: The season hasn't even started yet and a manager is already moaning about injuries. Shut up and get on with it!