Impressing after his transfer from Saint-Etienne at the beginning of last season, Max Gradel’s bad knee injury has cost him his place in Eddie Howe’s starting line-up at Bournemouth.
The Ivory Coast international has only made five league appearances so far this season, totalling 90 minutes, but played in the club’s two EFL Cup ties, scoring against Morecambe in a 2-1 win in the 2nd round.
This lack of game time has, according to La Gazette des Transferts, started to take its toll on the 29-year-old, and a return to Ligue 1 could be on the cards. 
Close to a transfer to Nantes towards the end of the summer transfer window, a new spate of negotiations are being prepared between the two clubs, with a loan deal and an option to buy the likeliest outcome due to the French club’s financial limits midseason.
Scoring 17 goals in 31 league games during his final season for Saint-Etienne, the addition of Bournemouth’s Gradel to their squad would provide a much needed boost for the small Ligue 1 club, who are struggling for form so far this season, sitting 19th in the table after 16 games.
