After such a remarkable 2023-24 season under Andoni Iraola, AFC Bournemouth are coming into the new Premier League season with greater buoyancy than has ever been seen at the club.
There were players, including Dominic Solanke, Antoine Semenyo, Marcos Senesi and Illia Zabarnyi, who had the best seasons of their careers under Iraola and will come into this new season full of confidence.
Others, however, did not enjoy such fortunes last year and saw their stock fall due to injuries, poor timing or initial struggles to adapt to Iraola's playing style.
Some have already moved on, but amongst those who are likely to remain for the 2024-25 season, here is a list of those for whom the next campaign is decisive for their future at the club.
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Alex Scott
After joining Bournemouth from Bristol City in the summer of 2023 for a reported £25 million, there was a lot of expectation around Alex Scott with many tipping him to be the next big thing in English football.
However, unfortunately for Scott, his first season in the Premier League was marred by injury, due to which he missed all of pre-season and did not make his Bournemouth debut until 21 October.
He then got injured again a few weeks later, spraining ligaments in his right knee against Manchester City.
These injuries meant that Scott made just four appearances before Christmas; a far from ideal start to his Cherries career.
Another factor in the somewhat underwhelming start to life in the Premier League for the man from Guernsey was the mightily impressive form of Ryan Christie.
The Scotsman formed a formidable midfield partnership with Lewis Cook and became one of Bournemouth's most pivotal players, embodying Iraola's style of play perfectly.
This made the task of breaking into the side so much more challenging for Scott and led to him making just 11 starts during the campaign.
The challenge now is for Scott to fulfil his masses of potential which saw him called up to the England under-21 side last season.
With a full pre-season now behind him and a year of learning 'Iraola-ball', there is no reason why the 20-year-old cannot become a mainstay of the Bournemouth team.
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David Brooks
At the end of the 2018/19 Premier League season, Brooks' first year in the division, the Welshman was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Season Award alongside players such as Declan Rice, Bernardo Silva and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
However, since that incredible debut season, Brooks' path has been far from easy.
The following year, Brooks missed every game up until lockdown before making nine appearances in the games that remained where the Cherries were ultimately relegated from the Premier League.
In the Championship, Brooks made something of a comeback as he scored five goals and provided six assists as the Cherries narrowly missed out on promotion, being defeated by Brentford in the play-offs.
It was then in the next season, 2021/22 where things became particularly bad for Brooks, as he was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021.
The illness took a huge toll on the former Sheffield United man, who said he "lost every bit of muscle", and it was not until March 2023 that he made his return to football.
Understandably, following the horrible situation he has had to endure, Brooks has been unable to hit the heights he once was at.
This resulted in him making just 13 league appearances for Andoni Iraola during 2023/24.
Due to his reduced game time, Brooks opted to join fellow south coast side Southampton on loan in the January transfer window, where he contributed two goals and five assists as the Saints bounced straight back to the Premier League via the play-offs.
As he now returns to Bournemouth, the task for Brooks is to become a part of Iraola's plan and try to put all his past injuries and illnesses behind him in an attempt to reach the levels he once showed he was capable of.
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Max Aarons
On August 10 2023, Bournemouth announced the signings of Max Aarons and Alex Scott. From there, the pair's seasons would end up following very similar paths.
Max Aarons joined the Cherries from Norwich for around £7 million with the expectation of becoming the club's first-choice right-back, which is exactly what happened.
The Englishman started 11 of the first 12 games, putting in a series of excellent performances before a hamstring injury in the club's victory over Newcastle ruled him out of action for eight weeks.
During his time out, Aarons saw his place taken by Bournemouth legend Adam Smith and due to Smith's brilliant performances, the elder statesman kept the spot for the rest of the season.
Smith's impressive form meant that Aarons started just two games in 2024, which would not have been in his plans when joining the Cherries.
Aarons' objective now is to regain his spot at right-back, dislodging Smith, and cementing himself as Iraola's first choice.
By remaining injury-free and demonstrating his ability during pre-season - something he was unable to do last season - there is expectation amongst supporters that Aarons will retake his place in the side.
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Philip Billing
Voted for by many as the club's Player of the Season for the 2022/23 season, the expectation was for Billing to become a pivotal part of Iraola's side when he took over.
However, that never became the case.
The Dane started the first 11 league games of the season, in which the Cherries secured just one win, against Burnley, where Billing scored the winner.
However, Billing was then ruled out of the 12th game of the season against Newcastle through injury, and he was never able to recover his place.
In that game, and throughout the rest of the season, Justin Kluivert started in the role just behind Solanke, and due to his impressive form, Billing only started two more games in the rest of the season.
The former Huddersfield man's lack of impact on the side during the season is in stark contrast to previous years, where Billing has been one of the club's top goalscorers and leaders on the pitch, during seasons in the Championship and back in the Premier League.
If he wants to regain his place in the side, it is evident that his pressing needs to become better to fit with the way Iraola wants to play.
Billing must become a more dynamic player in the same way Justin Kluivert is because there is no doubting his on-the-ball ability, but the work he does off it needs improvement.
The midfielder began pre-season well, providing an acrobatic assist for Senesi in Bournemouth's 1-1 draw with Wrexham, which may well put him in Iraola's thoughts ahead of the first league game of the season against Nottingham Forest on 17 August.
For all of these players, the 2024/25 season represents an opportunity to become an important player in the Bournemouth side.
Under owner Bill Foley, the club is ambitious, with aspirations of playing in Europe in coming seasons, so these players need to adapt if they want to be a part of it.
