“Dream come true” – Bournemouth player talks up long-term commitment to Cherries

Álex Jiménez’s decision to join AFC Bournemouth from AC Milan last summer has clearly paid off. He arrived at the Liberty Stadium on loan with a conditional obligation to buy.

The left-back has so far played 1,733 minutes from 24 matches in all competitions under Andoni Iraola’s orders.

On February 12th, Bournemouth made his loan stay permanent, after the 20-year-old had fulfilled the set conditions. Prior to that, Sport Witness covered claims from Italy the purchase clause was around €20m.

The Spain U21 international has signed a contract until 2031 with the Cherries. AS caught up with him to discuss topics related to the Premier League side and some other topics.

Jiménez thrilled with permanent Bournemouth move

Bournemouth activating the purchase clause has made the fullback ‘very happy’.

When asked about his permanent move, he said: “Yes, very happy. For me, it’s a dream come true, and from the moment Bournemouth called me, that was my goal, for them to end up buying me. I’ve achieved that, so I’m very happy.”

The Premier League side’s decision to buy him has made Real Madrid excited. Two weeks ago, Sport Witness relayed news from Spain that Los Bancos, his former club, will collect €13m from the sale to Bournemouth.

Jiménez talked about his confidence of Iraola’s side making his stay permanent.

“What I was sure of was that they were going to buy me, to be honest [laughs],” Jiménez explained.

“I actually made up my mind when the club called me, because (the signing) was with a mandatory purchase option after playing a certain number of matches. What convinced me was playing in the best league in the world. It’s true that it’s difficult to change countries, languages and everything, but having a Spanish manager, one of the best in the world, caught my attention and I decided to come here.”

Bournemouth model appeals him

The English club sold Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi and Dango Ouattara to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Brentford respectively. Milos Kerkez also left for Liverpool last summer.

AS asked the Spaniard whether the Cherries’ ‘ability to attract and export talent’ another factor in his decision to join them.

Responding to that, he added: “Of course. It catches your attention, especially this summer when I saw that Bournemouth wanted me. It’s striking that last year Huijsen went to Real Madrid, Zabarnyi was signed by PSG, Dango by Brentford… That also catches your attention, because, in the end, you look at where you want to go and what you can achieve in the future,”