Bought for a club record fee of £25m, Jefferson Lerma arrived at Bournemouth with a lot of expectations on his shoulder following the 2018 World Cup, and it’s fair to say he lived up to most of them.
The Colombia international has enjoyed a good first season under Eddie Howe at Vitality Stadium, starting 29 league games, scoring two goals and picking up one assist.
These performances have helped him keep his spot in his country’s national team as they prepare to face Panama on June 4th, where he has been speaking to the media about his season.
Speaking to W Radio, the defensive midfielder said: “I’m very happy with everything I’ve done this year at Bournemouth. I’ve grown a lot as a footballer and as a person, and these things will help me.”
In a separate interview with AS Colombia, the footballer added to his previous quote, praising those within Bournemouth for making it easy to integrate, having just arrived from Leganes, a very different environment to the Cherries’.
He said: “I think the Premier League is suited to how I play. Everything happened like I hoped it would, and everyone at the club put everything at my disposal to have a lot of regularity, and this helped a lot.”
With Bournemouth finishing 14th in the Premier League, there is still a lot to work on at Vitality Stadium, but it certainly seems like Lerma will once again play a key part in Eddie Howe’s plans next season.
At 24, he still has a lot to learn and offer to the Cherries.
