Bournemouth have signed Huddersfield midfielder Phillip Billing for a fee of £15 million on a five year deal. The Danish midfielder had scored 6 goals in 91 appearances for Huddersfield and has played for the Denmark youth sides.
Billing is the Cherries third signing of the summer transfer window after Lloyd Kelly and Jack Stacey. Here’s what the Danish midfielder had to say about the move:
“As soon as I heard of the club’s interest, there was never any doubt in my mind. It was an easy decision to make to come into a squad which is full of talented, international players and working with a manager of Eddie Howe’s quality. This is an exciting step forward for me and I can’t wait to get started.”
Player History
Billing started his career in the youth academy of Huddersfield Town , signing his first professional contract in October 2013. Strong performances in the under-18’s and under-21’s earned the midfielder a senior debut in a 2-0 loss against Leicester City.
The following season (2014/15) Billing failed to make a senior appearance, but it was in the 2015/16 that Billing managed to pick up more game time, playing 695 minutes across 13 games in the championship. The 2016/17 campaign was better, playing 1,203 minutes, scoring 2 goals and providing 1 assist in 24 games. 2017/18 saw Huddersfield Town join the Premier League and during their 2 year stay, Billing made 43 appearances, scoring just 2 goals.
Internationally, Billing has played for both the under 19’s and under 21’s for Denmark. In November 2018 he turned down an approach from the Nigerian senior side, and has since been called up to the Danish senior side in March 2019.
Fantasy Football Potential
Billing will join the Bournemouth senior side, but it’s unlikely that the Danish under-21 will displace any of the starting XI and likely play second fiddle to Lerma and Cook. From a fantasy football perspective, Billing does also play quite deep, especially when considering the formation that Bournemouth play (4-2-2-2) with deep centre midfielders.
Billing will get chances, but this will likely be from the bench at the start. Bournemouth start the Premier League season with a favourable run of fixtures of; Southampton (H), Aston Villa (A), Manchester City (H), Leicester City (A) and Everton (H). These good fixtures continue up until gameweek 10, making Bournemouth assets very favourable, however if you are looking at a secure starter it may be worth looking towards the likes of Wilson (£8.0m), King (£6.5m) and Fraser (£7.5m) until the position of Billing is clear.
