LET’S GET EDDIE TO RUMBLE
Wilshere deal can be the first to open floodgates for top stars Climbing higher than eighth? We can always do more says boss
EDDIE HOWE wants Jack Wilshere’s loan deal to be the trailblazer for more big-name signings at Bournemouth. Beating Craig Shakespeare’s Leicester tomorrow in the decider to find the top English manager could see the Cherries finish in eighth place. But the ambitious south coast club want to go even higher with John Terry, Jermain Defoe, Nathan Ake and Asmir Begovic on their shopping list. Wilshere’s loan deal was brought to an abrupt halt last month when the Arsenal ace broke his leg. But Howe reckons the signing (right, top) sent out an important message about the ambition at Bournemouth, who were still in League Two seven years ago. And now they really are reaching for the stars in Defoe (right, centre) and Terry (right, below). Howe said: “I think Jack’s signing will help in the summer, Signing a player of Jack’s quality, his name, it definitely changes the exposure of the club. I think that served to get our name around the country, almost around the world. The Premier League is global. “People are aware of Bournemouth now and maybe a couple of years ago with our promotion to the Premier League, they wouldn’t have been. They would have been impressed by the story but now we are quite well known. “Hopefully Jack, potentially, could be the first of a few to help us reach a bigger pool. “There are very few players that will make us stronger. Hopefully there will be no negative surprises for us. “I want to keep the squad together, keep our best players and try and add quality to the group if we can. “If we can do that, it will be another good window for us.” Howe sees no glass ceiling for a club with wealthy backers but a stadium with a capacity of only 11,464. Is climbing higher than eighth possible? “I don’t want to put that limit on us,” said the quietly confident 39-year-old. “My mind-set is you can always achieve more. It has to be. “You cannot set a level and say you are never going to reach that point again. You have to always want more.” That will cost money – in transfers, wages and signing-on fees. And Howe knows upgrading his squad will offer challenges to a club forced into administration in 2008. “It would break my heart to see this club fall financially and become victim of our own success – when you go to the Premier League and end up spending too much money,” he said. “We have been there before and we desperately don’t want that to happen again.”