Reports that Roma have set their sights on defender Marcos Senesi must be the last thing Bournemouth supporters want to hear.
Bournemouth managed to hold on to the Argentina international in defiance of rumoured interest from Serie A giants Juventus but a summer sale in 2025 would be unfortunately timed to say the least.
The Cherries certainly aren’t moving defenders on without attracting top dollar for them but the defensive departures would take on a different complexion if Senesi were to swap the south coast for Italy’s capital.
Andoni Iraola is facing worrying losses in Bournemouth’s defence
Bournemouth have sold a 20-year-old centre-back to Real Madrid and a 21-year-old left-back to Liverpool. Both Dean Huijsen and Milos Kerkez were outstanding in the Premier League in 2024/25 and Bournemouth – by hook, crook and release clause – have been able to cash in.
Manager Andoni Iraola has also lost goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who is Arsenal-bound after returning to Chelsea from a loan spell that saw his performance numbers vastly outstrip appearances.
Right-back Max Aarons has already been sent back out on loan, this time to Scottish Premiership side Rangers, and there hasn’t been a whiff of panic from the direction of King’s Park despite Huijsen and Kerkez setting sail to the top.
Bournemouth know better than most that worse things happen by the seaside than making a small fortune from two talented young footballers who have moved to clubs where they can expect to swim in silver.
Relegations, great escapes, points deductions and the genuine prospect of oblivion have all darkened the door of Dean Court in relatively recent history and older generations of Bournemouth supporters would be forgiven for addressing a potential personnel problem in defence with no more than a shrug.
Iraola’s aggressive and often irresistible football has pushed Bournemouth to a new level. Premier League participation once seemed a distant dream and top-flight consolidation a ludicrous impossibility but the 43-year-old has taken the Dorset club beyond even that.
Bournemouth have lost Huijsen and Kerkez because they were extraordinary players in a thrilling, vital, effective Premier League team.
Iraola delivered a highest-ever league finish for a club that placed in the top half of League One 20 years earlier and considered it progress.
That’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the tale of Bournemouth’s last 30 years but it explains why it’s without mawkishness or sympathy that they can be claimed to be victims of their own success.
It’s simply a statement of fact and the inevitable consequence of a first real push for Europe.
Huijsen and Kerkez are irreplaceable. The left-back was the only player to start every Premier League game for Bournemouth in 2024/25 and one of only two defenders who played more minutes than Huijsen.
The other, Ilya Zabarnyi, is no more unfamiliar with the admiring gaze of other clubs this summer than Senesi. Add 33-year-old Adam Smith to that list and you have the five defenders with the most Premier League minutes for the Cherries last season.
Senesi’s contract runs out next summer and he’s more likely than Zabarnyi to leave on that basis alone, but a big bid for the Ukrainian could be tempting for Black Knight even if Andoni might prefer not to bottom out his defence in a single transfer window.
Whatever happens, there’s already work to do for the Cherries’ recruitment team in defence. You’d back them to do it well, given the justified demand for their players.
Cherries supporters will hope they’ve already made their move on the left, replacing Kerkez with single-capped French 23-year-old Adrien Truffert from Rennes, but the coming weeks will reveal a lot about Bournemouth.
If they can locate and attract the next Huijsen and Kerkez, it’s the other clubs who should be worried.
If the young defenders waiting in the wings – Julian Araujo and James Hill, both 22, played in ten or more Premier League matches last season – any concerns on Iraola’s part will ease.
If Iraola can somehow mastermind another top-half finish in the absence of two or more of his defensive leading lights in 2025/26, his own future will be the biggest concern at the Vitality Stadium this time next year.
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