AFC Bournemouth
Coach Alan Connell believes his AFC Bournemouth under-18 graduates all have the potential to flourish at the next level.
Cameron Plain, Ben Greenwood, Brooklyn Genesini, Christian Saydee, Nathan Moriah-Welsh and Connor Kurran-Browne have progressed to Shaun Cooper’s under-21 squad.
The sextet featured as the Cherries enjoyed a fruitful 2019/20 campaign, winning the EFL Youth Alliance and reaching the fifth round of the FA Youth Cup for a second season in succession.
They all trained with Eddie Howe’s first team at some stage with defender Genesini and striker Saydee involved in matchday squads in the FA Cup and Premier League, respectively.
Goalkeeper Plain earned rave reviews during a loan spell with Wimborne Town in the Southern League, while left-back Greenwood also tasted match action with the Magpies.
Like Saydee, midfielders Moriah-Welsh and Kurran-Browne both fought back from serious injury to prove themselves worthy of earning an extended stay at the club.
Connell said releasing fellow second-year scholars Harvey Bertrand, Luke Gray, Jordan Murray, James Oliver, Luke Pardoe and Jack Torniainen had been a “difficult decision”.
Speaking to afcb.co.uk, Connell added: “As a group, we had a good season and a number of individuals flourished.
“I was very pleased with the boys last season and we had some difficult decisions to make on players.
“The boys who were not kept on had done particularly well for the youth team over the past couple of years and were unfortunately not retained. We wish them the very best with their futures.
“We are delighted for the six who have progressed and believe they can, hopefully, impact the first team one day in the future.
“Due to their respective injuries and the pandemic, Christian, Nathan and Connor probably did just over a year each of their two-year scholarships.
“Although that was a shame for them at the same time, it makes me really excited about how much potential and development there is still to come from them.
“Brooklyn and Ben both had really steady seasons and Brooklyn made the first-team squad for the FA Cup game against Arsenal.
“Over the two years, he played a lot of football, both for the under-18s and under-21s, which is a big reason why he is where he is.
“Ben joined us towards the end of the previous season and made a big impact in a short space of time.
“Cameron has been around the under-21s every day and had a beneficial loan spell with Wimborne. Hopefully, he will carry on his progression since joining two years ago.
“They all have a lot of work to do but they have shown they have the attributes to forge a career in professional football and, hopefully, they can prove to be assets to the club.”
