According to various reports in both Britain and Spain, AFC Bournemouth’s chase for Colombia International midfielder Jefferson Lerma has been ongoing since June.
The 23-year-old has had interest from other clubs in Spain and from Germany, despite only signing a new contract until 2022 in May, however, it would appear that AFC Bournemouth are the keenest to sign him.
Since Colombia’s elimination from the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Lerma has been heavily linked with a move to the Cherries, with a lot of the news originating from the tabloid newspaper The Sun.
Prior to the World Cup, it was their exclusive report that had claimed that the Cherries had made a £18million bid for Lerma, who can play central midfield, as a defensive-minded player, or at right back.
Reports in Spain, last week suggest that a bid of around €25million was the latest offer on the table, albeit having already been rejected by the Spanish La Liga side.
The Sun then ramped up the intrigue by claiming that Lerma had handed in a formal transfer request to try and force a move to the Premier League.
According to the British tabloid newspaper the Mirror, the latest twist is that Lerma has since gone AWOL.
The report claimed that Lerma has already agreed personal terms with Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe and has now missed two deadlines to return to training with Valencia-based Levante.
However, this contradicts reports in Spain which claimed that Lerma isn’t set to return to training with Levante until 4th August, having given him a full month break following Colombia’s participation in the World Cup.
Noticia @DepCOPEValencia 🐸#Lerma ya ha comunicado al @LevanteUD que no se incorpora a la concentración de Holanda y que regresaría el 4 de agosto (un mes después de acabar el Mundial)
Antes de final de año podría obtener la doble nacionalidad 🇪🇸 🇨🇴 pic.twitter.com/RfDS5nvW3v
— Deportes COPE Valencia (@DepCOPEValencia) July 27, 2018
AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe, when pressed about the Cherries, reported interest in Lerma told the Daily Echo…
“I’m not going to comment on individual players, I don’t think that’s right. But yes, we are active in the market and trying to bring players in…”
He added…
“…We have found it difficult to recruit, there’s no doubt about that. But we’ve found it difficult to recruit in every window because the pool we are fishing in is getting smaller and smaller.
“It gets harder and harder to find players who are better than the ones we have.
“The World Cup has been a problem and the transfer window shutting earlier has been a problem but that’s the same for every club.
Your say…
bondsnemesis wrote…
Every club is a stepping stone on the way up, the same as every other walk in life unless you have no ambition. Good for him if he has slapped in a transfer request if he feels he can improve himself and his families fortunes and ambitions. If we land him and he goes for more money in 2 years time I may be disappointed, but won’t be moaning. – Join the conversation, click here.
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