YELLOW peril Jefferson Lerma clocked on for duty as Bournemouth’s record buy – and said he can’t wait to get stuck in at the Vitality Stadium.
Ten years to the day since the Cherries were clobbered with a 17-point deduction in League Two for failing to meet the terms of exiting administration, Colombia star Lerma hooked up with his new team-mates as a £25million signing.
The 23-year-old picked up a staggering 18 yellow cards for Levante in Spain last season, 16 of them in La Liga.
But the combative midfielder, who played against England in the dramatic World Cup last-16 tie settled by penalties in Moscow, insists he is ready for the all-action nature of Premier League football.
Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe preaches a high-tempo approach and Lerma (below) told the club website: “I have always loved the Premier League style and I am very happy to have this opportunity.
“The transfer has been very long because it took time for the clubs to reach an agreement.
“But the important thing is that I am here now and everyone got what they wanted.
“I am looking forward to success and doing important things for this club.”
Lerma, who has signed a five-year deal, is the Cherries’ third major summer signing following Howe’s capture of David Brooks from Sheffield United and full-back Diego Rico from Leganes.
The Lerma deal smashed the £20m fee Bournemouth paid Chelsea for defender Nathan Ake 12 months ago.
They open their fourth top-flight campaign at home to promoted Cardiff on Saturday.
Lerma is put through his paces after signing on
MAJOR INS: Robert Green (Huddersfield) Free, Jorginho (Napoli) Undisclosed.MAJOR OUTS: Thibaut Courtois, (Real Madrid) Lewis Baker (Leeds) Loan, Mason Mount (Derby) Loan, Jamal Blackman (Leeds) Loan, Kenedy (Newcastle) Loan.NEED IN: Keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for a world record £71.5m and midfielder Mateo Kovacic – on loan from Real Madrid – are on the way. Also in the market for a striker. MAJOR INS:
Andre Schurrle(B. Dortmund) Loan, Fabri(Besiktas) £5m, Maxime leMarchand (Nice) Undisclosed, Jean Michael Seri (Nice) Und’, Aleksandar Mitrovic (Newcastle) Und’, Alfie Mawson (Swansea) £20m.MAJOR OUTS: Ryan Fredericks (West Ham) Free, David Button (Brighton) Undisclosed. Stephen Humphrys (Scunthorpe) Loan.NEED IN: Still after Celta Vigo’s Hugo Mallo and Swans’ Jordan Ayew. MAJOR INS:
Vicente Guaita (Getafe) Free, CheikhouKouyate (West Ham) Undisclosed, Max Meyer (Schalke) Free.MAJOR OUTS: Jaroslaw Jach (Caykur Rizespor) Loan.NEED IN: The London outfit have shopped shrewdly to land Vicente Guaita, Cheikhou Kouyate and Max Meyer. Keen on landing Swansea City forward Jordan Ayew but money is tight. MAJOR INS:
Richarlison (Watford) £50m, Lucas Digne (Barcelona) £18m. MAJOR OUTS: Wayne Rooney (DC United) Free, Ramiro Funes Mori (Villarreal) Undisclosed, Ashley Williams (Stoke) Loan.NEED IN: A centre-half. Edging closer to either Mina or Rojo, with Kurt Zouma as a back-up plan. Also could require a little more midfield depth, but could struggle to find someone before window closes. MAJOR INS:
MAJOR INS: Florin Andone(Dep La Coruna) Undisclosed,Leon Balogun (Mainz) Free, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (AZ Alkmaar) Undisclosed, Percy Tau (M. Sundowns) Undisclosed, Yves Bissouma (Lille) Undisclosed, Bernardo (Leipzig) £9m. MAJOR OUTS: Jamie Murphy (Rangers) Undisclosed, Connor Goldson (Rangers) Und’, Tim Krul (Norwich) Free, Sam Baldock (Reading) Und’. NEED IN: May bid for Wigan’s Dan Burn or another central defender.
MAJOR INS: Bobby Reid(Bristol City) £10m, AlexSmithies (QPR) £3.5m, Greg Cunningham (Preston) Undisclosed, Josh Murphy (Norwich) Undisclosed. MAJOR OUTS: NoneNEED IN: Need more quality all over the pitch, especially up front where January signing Gary Madine has so far failed to score. The Bluebirds were rocked by the failure to bring back midfield loanee Marko Grujic from Liverpool.
RamadanSobhi (Stoke City) £5.7m,Terence Kongolo (Monaco) Undisclosed, Ben Hamer (Leicester City) Free, Adama Diakhaby (Monaco) Undisclosed, Erik Durm (Borussia Dortmund) Undisclosed.MAJOR OUTS: Robert Green (Chelsea) Free, Tom Ince (Stoke) £10m. NEED IN: Got their business done early and efficiently, but David Wagner could top it off with a deal for Montpellier winger Isaac Mbenza.
MAJOR INS: Diego Rico(Leganes) £10.7m, DavidBrooks (Sheff Utd) Undisclosed. MAJOR OUTS: Max Gradel (Toulouse) Undisclosed, Benik Afobe (Wolves £10m), Lewis Grabban (Nottingham Forest) Undisclosed, Adam Federici (Stoke) Undisclosed. NEED IN: A record deal for £26.8m Levante defender Jefferson Lerma has set the Cherries up for the season. They could spend £10m on Brentford defender Chris Mepham.
MAJOR INS: Ben Gibson (Middlesbrough) £15m, JoeHart (Man City) £3.5m.MAJOR OUTS: Scott Arfield (Rangers) Free.NEED IN: Having done no business for most of the summer, things are now shaping up for the ambitious Clarets. Signing striker Matej Vydra from Derby County, trying to re-sign Jay Rodriguez and bidding for Nantes defender midfielder Abdoulaye Toure.