According to The Athletic, Eddie Howe hopes to sign at least two top class players able to ‘immediately improve’ his starting XI this summer.
These are ‘likely to be midfielders’ – whether that be a holding midfielder or attacker able to play out wide or in a midfield three – and recent reports point towards Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella and James Maddison of Leicester are our current top targets.
Signing both would take a big chunk of our summer budget – they are unlikely to cost less than £100m combined – meaning we are expected to pursue value-for-money deals in our pursuit of a new left-back, right-sided centre-back and young forward able to compete with Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak.
With this in mind, it makes you wonder where things stand with a potential move for Kieran Tierney, as previous reports suggest the Arsenal left-back will cost in excess of £30m.
Perhaps there’d be money left to sign the Scot, alongside two top quality midfielders, but with a centre-back and striker also wanted, it’ll be interesting to see if cut-price options are pursued instead.
This may explain recent links to Kyle Walker-Peters. He can play down either flank and is thought to be available at £15m, according to The Telegraph.
Who knows who’ll sign or just how much money will be spent this summer – PIF have proven in the past that they’ll sanction big deals if the right opportunity presents itself. Whatever happens, it promises to be an eventful and exciting few months as we build towards the 2023/24 season.
