AFC Bournemouth made six exciting signings during the January transfer window. Here's some fun facts about the new players!
Dango Ouattara
- Dango was born in 2002, making him just 20 years of age. His birthday is February 11th which means he'll be celebrating on Saturday when we played Newcastle United!
- With his assist on his debut against Nottingham Forest, Dango became the first AFC Bournemouth player to assist on his Premier League debut.
- He's only the second player from Burkina Faso to play in the Premier League after Bertrand Traore for Aston Villa.
Darren Randolph
- Darren comes from a family of sportspeople with his dad, Ed, playing professional basketball for UCD Marian. Ed was one of the first Americans to play in the Irish Basketball League!
- The goalkeeper has a famous assist for the Republic of Ireland! He played a brilliant long-ball for former Cherries striker Shane Long to score in a win against Germany.
- He's got vast experience and has played for the likes of West Ham, Middlesbrough and Motherwell.
Antoine Semenyo
- The new striker also has a sporty family! His dad, Larry, is a former professional footballer who played in the Ghana Premier League as a midfielder.
- Antoine knows a bunch of the Cherries squad. He was teammates with head coach Gary O'Neil and captain Lloyd Kelly at Bristol City and knows Jordan Zemura and Jaidon Anthony through bible study!
- The 23-year-old played at the World Cup for Ghana, playing in the games against Portugal and Uruguay.
Matías Viña
- The new left-back has won a whole load of trophies in his career! He won the Uruguayan Primera Division and Supercopa Uruguaya with Nacional, as well as the Copa do Brasil, Campeonato Paulista and two Copa Libertadores with Palmeiras. With Roma, he won the European Conference League, playing against Marcos Senesi in the final!
- Viña has played in the World Cup for Uruguay, for whom he's got 28 caps.
- He was so impressive for Nacional in the Uruguayan Primera División that he was given the Player of the Year award in 2019, which is a massive achievement for a left-back!
Illia Zabarnyi
- At the age of 18 years and 36 days, Zabarnyi made his debut for Ukraine, which makes him his country's second-youngest player ever!
- He played every minute of Ukraine's EURO 2020 campaign, making him the youngest defender in the tournament. Ukraine got to the quarter-final, where they lost to England.
- Zabarnyi has played 21 times in the Champions League so far, playing against the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Benfica.
Hamed Traorè
- The new signing's full name is Hamed Junior Traorè and he's affectionately known as Junior by his teammates. It could get a bit confusing when he's around Junior Stanislas!
- Hamed was born in Abidjan, which is the economic capital of Ivory Coast. He moved to Italy as a youngster.
- He was one of the stars of Italy's Serie A in recent years and scored 18 goals in 140 games in the league. Hamed even scored against the likes of Roma and Inter!
