Could AFC Bournemouth already be left regretting one of their transfer deals of the summer?
The Cherries opted to sell AFC Bournemouth academy graduate Sam Surridge to fellow Championship side Stoke City, in a deal that could be worth up to £5.5million.
It’s a deal that breaks the Cherries club-record transfer fee received record for a player who has come through the club’s youth set-up, with the previous record being set when Danny Ings was sold to Burnley for £1million a decade ago.
That deal did see the Cherries receive a further £200,000 in 2016, as the deal included a sell-on clause which was activated when Ings made the move to Liverpool, but the deal for Surridge is far in excess of that.
One of the reported reasons behind the move was that Surridge wanted more regular first-team football, instead of being behind Dominic Solanke in the Cherries pecking order.
Surridge has failed to break through as a regular under former managers Eddie Howe, Jason Tindall and Jonathan Woodgate with just 10 starts in 42 appearances in all competitions.
Surridge bagged 7 goals for the Cherries including 4 goals in the Championship last season, enjoying a 12-day purple patch in December 2020 where he scored 3 times, but failed to establish himself.
He had also enjoyed three loan spells away from Dean Court with Yeovil Town in League Two in 2017/18 where he scored 10 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions (including 30 starts).
In 2018/19 he had another loan spell in the fourth tier this time with Oldham Athletic where he scored 12 times in 20 appearances in all competitions (including 14 starts).
In 2019 he made the step up to the Championship with a half season-long loan with Swansea City scoring 7 goals in 23 appearances in all competitions (including 10 starts).
But will AFC Bournemouth regret doing the deal for the 23-year-old?
Should AFCB sell Surridge?
Yes
No
Don't know
🗣 'Since I'd heard of the interest and spoken to Michael, my heart was set on Stoke really'.
First Word with the new boy is now available on Stoke City+.#SCFC 🔴⚪️
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) August 4, 2021
https://twitter.com/surridge_sam/status/1422903413126451202?s=20
Since the move AFC Bournemouth are yet to add to Dominic Solanke, with 19-year-old Christian Saydee currently playing back-up to Solanke.
Meanwhile, Surridge has hit the ground running at Stoke City, with a goal on his debut as he came off the bench for the final 17 minutes to score the winner against Reading on the opening day of the Championship season.
Whilst last night from his first start he scored again in the EFL Cup against Fleetwood Town.
Your say…
SteveJonesLegend wrote…
Whilst I would have loved to have seen it work out for him here, it didn’t really and 3 managers saw him in training and decided he wasn’t deserving of a regular start… Maybe he just needed a change.
We’ve scored 7 goals in 2 competitive games this season and conceded 2… Not like we’re in the middle of a goal drought because he’s left… – Join the conversation, click here.
Your loss our gain player we need a proper goal scorer
I suspect Parker will be looking at a more agile CF as appose to what Surridge offered. Surridge needed to move on for his own growth. We will have nothing to regret if we reinvest appropriately.