Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe believes the windfall the club are to receive from Adam Lallana’s move from Southampton to Liverpool is vindication of the club’s policy of investing in young players.
The south-coast side will pocket a quarter of the reported £26m fee for Lallana after inserting a 25 per cent sell-on clause into the deal that took him to Southampton as a 12-year-old.
And Howe is delighted Bournemouth are able to reap the dividends of Lallana’s move to Merseyside.
“I think from our perspective it shows the importance of youth development and bringing young players through,” he told Sky Sports News.
“This club has always done it. If you look at recent history there’s been Danny Ings and Sam Vokes.
“Of course Adam didn’t make his way through because he left but it just goes to show that bringing young players through is the lifeblood of this club.
“People have put a lot of work into Adam at a young age. When you invest in young talent - we get them in at six or seven like most clubs do nowadays - the work we do with them is key
“From our perspective we didn’t plan for this so any potential money would be gratefully received but it will be up to the owner to decide what he does with it.”
Howe added: “I think he is an exceptional player. I’ve worked with him and I know him as a guy and what a first-class individual he is.
“He’s done brilliantly for Southampton and I’m sure he’ll do really well for Liverpool.”
Bournemouth academy scout Terry Wateridge admitted Lallana’s talent was evident at a young age.
“He just had such ability and we all loved him,” Wateridge said.
“He’s a natural and he had such unbelievably quick feet and incredible balance. Because he was never very big and had a low centre of gravity he drifted by players as if they didn’t exist much the same way he does now.
“Even now it’s quite strange to see him play and thinking all those years ago he was this little lad who turned up at training at Bournemouth Football Club.”
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