AFC Bournemouth have signed 17-year-old goalkeeper Callan McKenna from Queen’s Park.
According to the Scottish Sun, the deal is worth a “minimum £350,000” with multiple add-ons, including first-team progress and international caps, potentially taking a deal over £ 1 million and the deal also includes “a cut of any future sell-on”.
The Scottish tabloid newspaper added that “McKenna has turned down Manchester United to agree a deal with Bournemouth.”
The Callan McKenna deal reminds of the time when Bournemouth signed some young goalkeeper on deadline day in 2017. I think his name was Aaron Ramsdale…
AFC Bournemouth have had great recent success with signing young goalkeepers who have developed to become full internationals.
The Cherries have previously signed the likes of Mark Travers and Aaron Ramsdale, who have gone on to represent Republic of Ireland and England respectively.
Travers joined AFC Bournemouth as a 17-year-old in 2016 and made his Premier League debut for the Cherries in 2019, becoming the fifteenth youngest goalkeeper to ever make an appearance in the Premier League.
Ramsdale has gone on to play in the Premier League as a regular first-choice goalkeeper, not only for the Cherries prior to their relegation, but also for Sheffield United and Arsenal.
He has also made 4 appearances for England and was part of both of Gareth Southgate’s England squads at (the delayed) Euro 2020 and the World Cup 2022.
Both will have worked under AFC Bournemouth goalkeeper coach Neil Moss, who returned to the club in December 2022 after an 18-month spell away from the club, which included working with the Football Association as a national goalkeeper coach.
McKenna is already a Scotland Under-19 international and his move to the south coast is likely seen with aspirations of claiming a full international cap in the not so distant future.
Queen’s Park Head Coach Callum Davidson told queensparkfc.co.uk…
“I have only been at the club for a short time however I could see in training the quality that Callan has and the potential that he possesses. Having picked up first team experience at sixteen as a goalkeeper will have been good for him and he is the perfect example of what is possible at Queen’s Park in terms of being a young player, learning the game and using the platform the club provides to attract interest from huge clubs.“A lot of credit must go to our Goalkeeping coach Glen Johnson who has worked well with Callan and helped him reach of some of the potential he has. I am looking forward to seeing him reach the rest of his potential at Bournemouth and know that it will be a proud day for Queen’s Park when he pulls on one of their tops for the first time in their first team.”
We’ve clearly got a good record with developing promising keepers so you can see why we’d be an attractive prospect. – To join the conversation, click here.
