AFC Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter appears to be at a crossroads in his Cherries career.
The 2017/18 campaign for Arter was a torrid one, after initially holding on to his place in the AFC Bournemouth starting XI, he lost his shirt in the starting line up and would eventually lose his place amongst the squad on a regular basis.
In fact in 2018, Arter totalled just 71 minutes of Premier League football and 90 minutes of FA Cup football for AFC Bournemouth. A shocking statistic for a player who played such a key role in the Cherries rise from League One to the Premier League.
His 30 minutes for Republic of Ireland against France last week was his first competitive football since January.
Arter has been linked with moves away from the South Coast, most notably to West Ham United, however, Arter appeared to indicate that he does know what he wants and further added that there was nothing stopping him from returning to the Cherries squad to fight for his place.
Arter told the Irish Independent…
“…The season I endured this year is one I don’t want next season. I came out of team quite early. I’ve been a big part of the starting eleven for the last seven, eight years and every player – when they come out of the team – always feels a tad aggrieved.
“As the season went on, I respected the manager’s decision. I knew he didn’t wake up one morning and decide ‘I don’t like Harry any more’. It was a football decision.”
“In my heart I do know what I want, As I say, I’d probably rather just concentrate on this (Republic Of Ireland) camp. I always feel when you come away here, my aim is to try and perform as well as I can with Ireland. I don’t want to get distracted by what might happen or what might not happen.
“The respect I have for Bournemouth and the manager, there’s no reason why I can’t go back there and fight for my place.”
Your say…
Chris.H. wrote…
“Someone wrote something on here about Harry having done/said something to alienate himself irreversibly from the rest of the squad.”
I think it started around Christmas. His terrible dive at Swansea and his refusal to acknowledge the fans at Crystal Palace were swiftly followed by rumours of a major schism in the camp.
Now, I fully understand that 99% of these rumours are total and utter rubbish but this one has hung around like a fart in a spacesuit ever since. – Join the conversation, click here.
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