Howe told the Bournemouth Echo that he has been impressed with the young Dutchman’s career so far and is looking forward to having him within the Cherries squad for the upcoming campaign.
"Nathan had a really good season with Watford and also caught the eye during his loan spell with Reading in the Championship," he said.
"We have played against him three times in the past couple of seasons and he has performed very well in all three games.
"He was used predominately at left-back by Watford and also played at centre-back for them. His favoured position is as a central midfielder.
"He really did excel for Watford and I think those experiences will benefit us during the coming season.
"We will look to develop his talent and will be keen to see how he fits into the talented squad we have.
"He is technically very good and is coming to us with a really good year of Premier League games under his belt, so we are really excited at the prospect of working with him."
Read more about our newest signing and his career so far as we profile him here.
