Young talent Michael Dacosta Gonzalez leaves Cherries to join Moreirense FC

It was confirmed this morning that after spending 10 years at the club, Michael Dacosta Gonzalez will move onto pastures new as he has joined AFCB partner club Moreirense FC on a permanent transfer from the Cherries.

Gonzalez was often tipped as one of the most exciting talents that was up and coming from our academy, so it is a disappointing loss for us, but if he hits the ground running in Portugal, a buy-back for the winger could certainly be on the cards. 

The Spaniard joined the club when he was just 11, and has had loan spells at Hartlepool United and Crawley Town in recent years. Injuries have played a part in the success if these loan spells, as he didn't have the impact desired when out on loan. 

This transfer does lead me to ask this question, if one of AFCB's highest rated academy talents hasn't even been given an opportunity to prove himself in the top 3 leagues in England, yet alone the Bournemouth first team, what does that mean for all of the other academy players?

With our academy status remaining at Category 2 for the foreseeable future, it will impact how many academy players we have that can have the platform to break out into the first team. 

The last player that successfully broke out of the academy and cemented themselves into the first team was Jaidon Anthony back in 2022. Not only was that 4 years ago now, but we were in the Championship then, and the difference between breaking into a Championship team compared to a top 6 Premier League team is staggering. 

It is common knowledge about how lucky, talented and driven you need to be to make it out of an academy and be successful for that same clubs first team, even when the academy and first team are on a similar par to each other in terms of comparative quality, and this shows that the academy at Bournemouth hasn't developed at the same rate as the first team.

However, it is not all doom and gloom, Gonzalez is a phenomenal talent with bags of talent and a great eye for goal, so there is no doubt that he will be a great signing for the Portuguese side, and hopefully we can see plenty more of his brother, Malcom, who is another highly rated 18 year old at the AFCB academy, in the coming years!

You do often see academy players excelling abroad, and Michael is the exact profile to do that, being so direct and skillful, is exactly how wingers like Trincao are so potent in the Liga Portugal.

Go well, Michael! Up The Cherries.