Bournemouth

Bournemouth groundsman Dan Sutherland explains why the club have brought him along to look after the pitches during the Cherries' pre-season camp in Austria.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Sutherland said: "Just to make sure the pitches at the training facility are up to standard for the pre-season because they bring a team out and it's got to be as good as the pitches at the performance centre.

"We're trying to do our bit to make them good."

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Spanish football journalist Mario Garcia says potential Bournemouth summer signing Juanlu is a "very good player" and believes the move is an "interesting" one for the Cherries.

The Spanish youth international is closing in on a £11.1m move from Sevilla as boss Marco Rose looks to finalise his squad for the new season.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Garcia said: "Juanlu is a very good player. He had a tough last season because Sevilla had tough moments because of the financial situation.

"He is a very good player and has come up with the national team with the under-19s and under-21s. He has played in the European Championship for Spain under-21s and won the gold medal in Paris 2024, scoring in the semi-final against Morocco. It is an interesting move for Bournemouth.

"He plays in a lot of positions and I think it's very nice for Marco Rose. He plays normally right-back. He can play in midfield or also as a right-winger. When he was in the youth teams in Sevilla he played in midfield. He was also put in midfield two seasons ago, so he can play in a lot of positions.

"Next season with Bournemouth will be tough because it will be the first time he has played in four competitions with the Europa League. It is interesting because one day he could play right back and then in Europe he could play midfield. He doesn't have any problems."

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Football, bibs, boots, and a frying pan.

Yes, you read that right - a frying pan.

Bournemouth's first-team chef Scott Foy has been speaking to BBC Radio Solent about his trustworthy non-stick frying pan, which made the 700-mile journey to Austria for the Cherries' pre-season tour.

He explained: "We have our own non-stick frying pan, as omelettes are a staple for breakfast. There is nothing worse than getting to a hotel, and they don't have non-stick pans.

"Trying to make omelettes in pans that are sticking - you end up with a right mess, and the players don't eat it."

Foy, like the Cherries players, will also be involved in European football this season as part of his role will be to travel with the players on all away trips.

A lifelong Bournemouth fan, he initially started his career at the club working in the hospitality suite before being offered the role as the first team's head chef.

"Born and bred in Bournemouth - I have been supporting Bournemouth since I was about six," he said.

"It wasn't a dream, but it kind of was when I got the job. I never thought I would be given that opportunity before, but here I am."

The power of nutrition is working in Bournemouth's favour, as they have won all three of their pre-season games so far.

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Bournemouth continued their preparation for the new Premier League season by beating Italian side Genoa in devastating fashion.

The scorers of the 10 goals for the Cherries were Alex Scott with two, Justin Kluivert (two penalties), Adrien Truffert, David Brooks (penalty), Daniel Jebbison, Malcom Dacosta Gonzalez and Enes Unal with two.

The Genoa goalscorer was Mikael Egill Ellertsson in a fixture that was placed across four 30-minute quarters.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist

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Centre-half Veljko Milosavljevic is already a Serbia international and became the youngest Bournemouth player to start a Premier League match when he played against Brighton in September.

Milosavljevic, who turned 19 on 28 June, featured in seven Premier League games in 2025-26, with the Cherries winning four and drawing one.

However, the 6ft 4in defender has not featured since January because of a knee injury, but will be hoping to get back to his best and continue his impressive start at Vitality Stadium.

He joined the Cherries from Red Star Belgrade on deadline day at the start of September in 2025, for an initial fee of £13m.

Read more on youngsters to watch at each Premier League club this season

Should a club build a new stadium or upgrade its current home in a bid to maintain some history? How significant is a new ground in terms of revenue generated? Will it move the needle?

BBC Sport has worked with football finance expert Kieran Maguire to consider the impact a new home has.

Take a look at your club's matchday revenue figures from 2024-25 below and get the full article here.

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."

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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

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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."

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