Howe: Young recruits can come of age at Bournemouth

Eddie Howe admits Bournemouth’s Premier League campaign will boil down to whether his youngsters flourish or fail after admitting it is unrealistic for his side to sign players at the peak of their powers.

Howe has spent big on youth this transfer window after shelling out a combined £22m for 20-year-old Jordon Ibe and 19-year-old Lewis Cook from Liverpool and Leeds respectively.

Indeed, aside from utility man Marc Wilson, none of their signings are above the age of 22 – with the Cherries having neither the reputation nor the deep pockets to coax those in their prime to the south coast.

But at 38, Howe is also the youngest manager in the Premier League and he has no problem with throwing the uninitiated into the deep end.

“I’ve gone on record to say it’s difficult to attract Premier League players in their prime, we’ve gone down a younger route of recruitment,” he said. “But we’re delighted with the player we’ve brought in, they’ve got great character, attitude and will be very good players for us.

“I do feel it’s a stronger squad than last year, we have more numbers and a very good work ethic.

“When you recruit you have to make sure you don’t lose your identity and the pleasing thing for me is that everyone has had a great mentality towards their training.”

 (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Bournemouth opened up their season with a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, but Howe saw enough to convince him that his side can bring their first points of the season home from West Ham this weekend.

“The lads came in with renewed vigour after the game,” he added.

“It was a difficult one for us as for long spells we did very well and the first half was in the balance.

“It was an even game, the squad’s looking okay and we’re looking forward to a really exciting game on Sunday.”