Premier League club to make £21m signing as buy-clause automatically triggered

Bournemouth will this week confirm the permanent signing of Alex Jimenez.

Jimenez moved to the Cherries on loan from AC Milan over the summer with a conditional obligation to buy.

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The south coast side were set to trigger the clause if he started against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The welcome of the Villa saw Jimenez start his 17th league game for Bournemouth this season, while he has made a further four appearances off the bench.

And it means the 20-year-old has started, or played at least 45 minutes, in 50 per cent of league games he has been available for.

As such, Bournemouth will wrap up the £21m permanent signing of Jimenez this week – with the Cherries paying an initial £16.8m with a possible further £4.5m in potential add-ons.

Jimenez played 86 minutes of Bournemouth’s draw with Villa on Saturday afternoon.

Villa point ‘not enough’

Morgan Rogers put Villa ahead midway through the first half before January signing Rayan scored his first league goal following his arrival from Brazilian side Vasco da Gama.

Iraola, though, feels his side were unfortunate not to come away with all the spoils against Villa on home turf.

Rayan struck the woodwork in the first half, while Villa shotstopper Emiliano Martinez made a series of fine stops to help the Midlands side come away with a point.

“It’s a good point for us. [But] Looking at how the game has evolved it’s not enough,” Iraola said.

“Before the game maybe you’d take a point. After the game I cannot be completely satisfied. We were the better team today.

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“We had good chances. Martinez played a good game. We’ve done enough to win. We’d like to score a second one.

“I told the players at half-time we’re playing very well even though we were behind. We have to play the same way. It was just a matter of time.”

Iraola did reserve praise for Rayan after the stalemate, adding: “He’s an amazing player. Rayan can go inside or outside. When there’s space he can go one against one.

“It’s really difficult for the defender. He’s finished it really well. But he’s still a young player who needs to improve some things.”

Popping his cherry

Jimenez recently scored his first ever Bournemouth goal in the 3-2 win over Liverpool last month.

The Spaniard has gone on to become a fan favourite on the south coast having taken on the right-back role for Andoni Iraola’s side with ease.

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Jimenez came through the Real Madrid ranks before moving to AC Milan permanently in 2024.

The young defender made just 14 league starts for the Italian side before leaving Milan for Bournemouth over the summer.