Agent admits Arsenal wanted £20m midfielder who is now a Premier League forgotten man
Yesterday at 12:15 PM
With goals in successive league matches, a Premier League forgotten man is slowly but surely rediscovering the form that once earned him a place on Arsenal’s radar.
And, as he struggled with injury, illness and a loss of form, it felt fanciful indeed that Arsenal would ever have glanced in Hamed Traore’s direction.
AFC Bournemouth paid a cool £20 million to bring Traore to England back after an initial loan spell back in 2023. The midfielder would make only three substitute appearances as a permanent member of Andoni Iraola’s squad, however, before embarking on a loan spell at Napoli in the second half of the campaign.
A loan spell which ended as it started. With Traore stuck on the bench.
Though still technically a Bournemouth player, the Ivory Coast international now finds himself in France. He joined Auxerre on another temporary deal in the off-season.
And while the sight of Traore arriving at a club who finished as runners-up in France’s second tier last term highlights just how much of a struggle life has been of late, agent Valerio Giuffrida is just happy to see his client get his career back on the right track.
Agent admits Arsenal once wanted Bournemouth’s Hamed Traore
Traore scored in successive Ligue 1 matches recently against Montpellier and Brest.
"He chose to test himself in France because he knew he had to find continuity,” Giuffrida, who represents the GG11 agency, tells Tuttomercatoweb.
“He is demonstrating what he had shown during his time at Sassuolo, [where Traore’s displays] made him one of the strongest players in the championship.
“Some unfortunate events – such as a foot injury and an infection contracted in Africa – affected two years of his career, preventing him from playing regularly. He is returning to the player we knew, and who had attracted the attention of important clubs such as Milan and Arsenal.”
Giuffrida does not spell out exactly when AC Milan and The Gunners made their interest known.
Arsenal were linked with Hamed Traore in the early days of the Mikel Arteta era back in 2020, however, when the now-24-year-old was making his mark at Empoli.
Whether a return to form at Auxerre is enough to earn him a fresh start at Bournemouth, however, only time will tell.
Andoni Iraola explained why Traore left Bournemouth on loan
Cherries boss Andoni Iraola explained that his switch to Napoli came about due to the lack of opportunities afforded to Traore on the South Coast, with Lewis Cook, Ryan Christie, Marcus Tavernier and Philipp Billing all ahead of him in the Bournemouth pecking order.
"He is one of the players [where] we haven't found the good combinations of players around him, or a good moment to put him in the starting XI,” Iraola said. “But we know he is good. We know he has the level.
"He has, especially lately, had some health issues that makes it worse for his chances. But it is true also that we also haven't given him the chance to have a run of games; starting and improving, and making the mistakes the other players have been allowed to make.
"But these are decisions you have to take. You can't give the minutes to everyone."
TBR understands that Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo is on Newcastle United’s radar these days, with Traore far from the only Cherry in danger of being plucked from the vine.
