AFC Bournemouth begin their Premier League campaign away to Manchester City, seeking a first-ever point at the Etihad Stadium as the club enters a new era under head coach Marco Rose.
The match will be Bournemouth’s first competitive fixture since they finished sixth in the 2025/26 season and qualified for European competition for the first time in their history. It also represents the first major test of a squad that has undergone significant change in recent years.
Club legend Steve Fletcher believes Manchester City remain among the leading contenders for the Premier League title, despite having a new manager.
“The new players have performed well, and Marco Rose has had a good start to pre-season, scoring 22 goals in 5 games, but the real test begins against Manchester City. Manchester City has a new manager, but they are still strong contenders for the Premier League title.”
For Fletcher, Bournemouth’s meeting with City also serves as a reminder of how far the club has travelled. The former striker returned to the club 18 months after leaving Dean Court as its all-time appearance record holder, scoring the winning goal against Grimsby in the penultimate round of the 2008/09 season.
That result helped Bournemouth avoid relegation, and Fletcher believes the consequences of going down could have been severe.
“If we had been relegated then, the consequences might have been more than just dropping to the fifth tier; we might have even faced liquidation.”
Bournemouth went on to win three promotions in six seasons and reached the Premier League for the first time in 2015. They were relegated to the Championship in 2020 but returned to the top flight two years later, securing survival with a 15th-place finish under Gary O’Neil.
“We are a very humble club and we have always stuck to our history, and we never let anyone forget that. We are not a typical Premier League club; we have to give our all, both on and off the pitch, for even the slightest chance. What happened to AFC Bournemouth is a fairy tale that you might only experience once in a lifetime. Every day I think about how lucky we are. I always tell everyone, ‘You have to understand that this is not normal for AFC Bournemouth right now. Whether you win, lose, or draw, enjoy every minute.’ Our normal level might be League One, or at most the Championship. But now we are in the Premier League, the most competitive league in the world, and we are playing here every week. Love it, enjoy it, cherish it, and always remember where we came from.”
Fletcher made 726 appearances for Bournemouth between 1992 and 2013, scoring 122 goals. His appearance record is 243 matches greater than that of any other player in the club’s history.
After retiring, he worked for Bournemouth as a scout, club ambassador and assistant coach under several head coaches. He became the team’s player liaison officer following Andoni Iraola’s appointment in 2023.
Iraola guided Bournemouth to 12th place in the Premier League before matching the club’s highest-ever finish with ninth in the 2024/25 season. The club then lost a number of important players, including Kerkez, Dean Huijsen, Zabarnyi, Ouattara and Semenyo, but still finished sixth in 2025/26.
Iraola subsequently left to join Liverpool, while Bournemouth appointed Marco Rose as his replacement. Rose is only the second head coach from outside the British Isles in the club’s history.
Fletcher said the departure of a successful manager could be just as damaging as the sale of prominent players.
“When you achieve success like AFC Bournemouth has, the risk of losing your head coach is actually the same as losing players, and we did lose a lot of important players. For the fans, this is the reality. At least we sold players to big clubs, not rivals. They went to Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City… these are top clubs in the world. For the players, it’s the next step in their career, and we have to replace them with young, talented players. It’s tough when you lose an entire squad, but we just have to accept it.”
Bournemouth’s squad has otherwise remained relatively settled this summer. Senesi moved to Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer, while two substitutes also departed.
The club signed Antonio Silva from Benfica for 25 million euros to strengthen central defence, brought in Juanlu Sanchez at right-back to replace Alex J. M. Gimenez, and added Alvaro Rodriguez to the attack.
“When you lose important players, it’s very difficult to replace them. You can’t just buy ready-made players. If you want a player like Semenyo, you’d have to spend £60 million, which is unrealistic. We typically spend £25-30 million looking for potential players like Rayan. Players and coaches will come and go, but the key is to make new signings feel welcome, and help them integrate into the team, the city, and the club’s history.”
Manchester City have not lost in their past four meetings with Bournemouth. The latest encounter ended in a draw during the penultimate round of the 2025/26 season.
Following a 0-3 defeat by Arsenal in the Community Shield, Maresca is in need of a victory to lift morale. He won his first two matches against Bournemouth while managing Leicester City and Chelsea, but drew the next three.
The latest meeting in Manchester will reveal whether Maresca can return to winning ways or whether Bournemouth can make a striking start to the Marco Rose era.
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