Brentford have reached an agreement in principle over a club-record deal to sign winger Dango Ouattara for £42m from Bournemouth.
The two clubs have had intense negotiations over the last 72 hours regarding the 23-year-old.
Bournemouth were reluctant to sell, but after Ouattara made it clear he wanted to leave, the Cherries had no option but to allow him to go for a price they felt was fair market value, which includes add-ons.
The transfer will surpass Brentford’s previous club-record deal of £30m when they signed striker Igor Thiago from Club Bruges last summer.
The versatile Burkina Faso international had three years left on his contract. He is due to have a medical in the next 24 hours.
Ouattara joined Bournemouth from Lorient in January 2023 and has made 88 appearances, scoring 11 goals.
Bournemouth are looking at replacements and have Amine Adli of Bayer Leverkusen as a key target.
Sinisterra set for Brazil loan
Latest from Sky Sports News’ Mark McAdam:
Bournemouth have agreed a deal with Cruzeiro for Luis Sinisterra to initially join on a season-long loan.
The forward is set to travel to Brazil in the coming days and won’t be involved on Friday against Liverpool, live on Sky Sports.
Sinisterra made his loan spell at Bournemouth permanent in February 2024, signing from Leeds for £20m. He has made 14 appearances since then, scoring once.
Analysis: Iraola faces big weeks in the window
Sky Sports News’ Richard Newman:
“‘The next two weeks are key.’
“It’s clear on the eve of the new Premier League season, Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth squad is not where he hoped it would be ahead of the first game.
“The defensive unit has changed dramatically – Kepa’s loan from Chelsea ended without a permanent deal in place, Dean Huijsen’s left for Real Madrid, Illia Zabarnyi is now at Paris Saint-Germain and Milos Kerkez will line up against his old side for Liverpool tomorrow night.
“Some reinforcements have come in from France – Adrien Truffert and Bafode Diakite, but it’s obvious there’s hope there will be more.
“It’s an unsettled period for a head coach who has Bournemouth going places, having achieved a record Premier League points tally last season when finishing ninth.
“But Iraola’s record shows he can usually be trusted to have a plan, and the club’s transfer policy is admired, so it may be that the Cherries boss will have to stay ‘patient’ as he put it, and all the pieces will fall into place before the window closes.”
Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games this season
215 live premier league matches up from 128 this season on Sky Sports
From this season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games this season are on Sky Sports.
