On Thursday, L’Equipe reported that a handful of Premier League clubs had made ‘concrete approaches’ to try and save Max Gradel from Bournemouth, but in vain.
The player himself was said to want a return to Ligue 1, far away from the Cherries and England, with Toulouse his preferred destination, who are also interested.
The French outfit were said to have made a loan offer with an option to buy the Bournemouth winger at some stage during the season, but Eddie Howe and co. clearly didn’t feel that was good enough.
Sunderland, Watford and Hull were all competing with Toulouse, but it seems the Ligue 1 club are determined to get their man, according to La Dépêche du Midi.
The local French newspaper explain that after seeing their first offer rejected by Bournemouth, Pascal Dupraz’s side should come back with an improved bid, this time a loan with a compulsory purchase clause, meaning they’ll have to buy him regardless of whether he performs for them or not.
Considering how little football Max Gradel has played over the past two seasons, partly because of a very bad injury, Toulouse are taking a bit of a risk here.
However, the Ivory Coast international knows the French league well from his time there with Saint-Etienne, and adapting shouldn’t be too much of an issue if the move does go through.
