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Bournemouth might have spent big bucks in recent seasons in a bid for top-half status but few of those signings have lived up to their price tags. This poor investment into the squad could come back to bite them in the coming years.
Two transfers decisions this season are already costing the south coast outfit though, who will surely be wishing that neither had been made in the first place.
On the chalkboard
An impressive summer window saw David Brooks and Jefferson Lerma link up with the Cherries having signed from Sheffield United and Levante, respectively, and both have been solid additions to Eddie Howe’s side.
Those two great signings, though, have, somewhat masked a terrible one made in July, while another decision made six months later might just be even worse.
Who, then, are the two players who threaten to turn a good season of dealings into a bad one for Bournemouth?
Diego Rico and Tyrone Mings
Initially, the £10.7m signing of Diego Rico from Leganes looked like a smart one as there seemed to be little in the way of depth at left-back beyond Charlie Daniels – the Spaniard had been impressing in La Liga and the transition to Premier League football from there is not the biggest in the world.
Presumably, the 26-year-old was brought in as Howe and co didn’t trust Tyrone Mings to deputise when needed – the Aston Villa loanee is proving his boss completely wrong, though.
The behemoth defender has been immense since linking up with Dean Smith’s side in January and has become a key player in their push for promotion. Prior to the 26-year-old’s arrival in the Midlands, the Villans were leaking goals for fun and lacked leadership at the back – Mings has plugged the gaps and certainly makes himself heard on the pitch, too.
Villa are surely keen to keep him beyond the end of the 2018/19 campaign but Bournemouth would be mad to let the number 40 leave while Rico continues to drastically underperform – the 5 ft 11 flop has played just 529 league minutes and is fast proving to be an expensive mistake.
Check out the harsh words the Playmaker FC squad had to say about Wayne Rooney’s England career in the video below
Bournemouth chiefs will surely be regretting their decision to first sign Rico and then let the vastly better Mings depart, but what do you think, Cherries fans? Who would you rather have at the Vitality Stadium? Let us know in the comments below…
