AFC Bournemouth have signed Bosnian goalkeeper Asmir Begovic from champions Chelsea for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £10 million. The deal was official from July 1st on a long term contract. Begovic had a previous loan spell at Bournemouth from Portsmouth making 8 appearances. Desperate for first team football, Bournemouth are a great team for Begovic with Eddie Howe constantly looking to improve.
Asmir Begovic has said as quoted:
“AFC Bournemouth is an exciting, ambitious club which has everything in place for a bright future. Being part of a title-winning team at Chelsea was amazing but I felt now was the right time to move on, because I want to be playing regular football”.
Fantasy Football Potential
Begovic only managed to rack up 19 appearances for Chelsea in the league from 2015-2017, as he was outclassed by Belgian, Thibaut Courtois. Often called upon for domestic cups the 30 year old keeper decided it was time he needed to play a lot more football if he was to be chosen for Bosnian international games.
At 6ft 5in tall he is a unit between the sticks and is almost classed as a traditional goalkeeper which focuses themselves on key attributes such as handling, positioning and distributions for counter attacks. In the 19 appearances Asmir played for Chelsea he managed only 4 clean sheets and never lived up to the expectation from his 2014/15 season.
Once Begovic gains more first team football he can be a real contender for Fantasy Premier League teams with competition for Bournemouth from Artur Boruc who had an excellent 2016/17 season. Most likely priced around 5.0m to 5.5m due to price tag and reputation may be a fairly decent first team choice if they start off well for the season.
AFC Bournemouth’s opening fixtures are as follows; West Bromwich Albion (A), Watford (H), Man City (A), Arsenal (H) and Brighton (H). These fixtures do have the prospect of Bournemouth picking up a few points, but there are some difficult tests early on.
If you have enjoyed this early view of the fantasy potential of those moving teams this transfer window, be sure to check the others here.
Written by James Milburn (@jamesmilburn95)
