Back in mid-April, Bournemouth’s Max-Alain Gradel made it clear his future wasn’t at the Vitality Stadium by speaking to BBC Sport.
A month has passed since, and all the 29-year-old has to show for it is 19 minutes of football, which certainly isn’t enough to keep him happy at this stage of his career.
The Ivory Coast international decided to speak to Foot Mercato in France to give an update on what he was planning on doing, and if things had changed behind the scenes with Eddie Howe.
In short, they haven’t.
He explained: “I was expecting to play more. The manager made his choices, even if I don’t agree with them. I make do and I hope that next season I’ll make the right choices to play more. You have to ask the manager, I can’t tell you why.
“It’s unfair. Of course. My situation at Bournemouth is unfair. Like I said before, I won’t let them put me down. I continue to do what I need to do. I have three years left on my deal after this season. I don’t have too much pressure. If I have to leave Bournemouth, I’ll leave, but I won’t do so for the sake of it, that’s for sure.”
Revealing he’d had quite a lot of interest in his services, Gradel explained January wasn’t the right time to leave, especially with the Africa Cup of Nations, which he played in with Ivory Coast;
As for where he would like to end up, it doesn’t really matter to him, even if a return to France ‘is a possibility’, especially if the challenge and the project are right for him.
Having spent four years at Saint-Etienne, however, one thing is certain, he won’t be signing for Lyon.
