Where Does Michele Di Gregorio Fit In At AFC Bournemouth?

Michele Di Gregorio arrived at AFC Bournemouth with a pedigree that seems to be 'too good' to just be a backup goalkeeper for Cherries, so how does the Italian claim the number 1 spot?

Since the turn of the year, every Bournemouth fan can agree that Djordje Petrovic has made a significant improvement in his form. However, calamitous errors like his horribly misplaced back pass to Kevin Schade for Brentford's resulting equaliser yesterday, shows that the 26 year old still has a mistake in him.

In addition to this, Di Gregorio's debut in red and black went as well as it could have against Lincoln City on Tuesday night. Granted, he didn't have much to do in terms of shot stopping, but whenever he needed to claim a cross or command his area, those bases were covered incredibly well. 

When looking at the signing on paper, it would be difficult to comprehend why Juventus' starting goalkeeper would willingly leave one of the biggest clubs in Europe, and be happy with being the 2nd choice goalkeeper with a somewhat 'error prone' Petrovic starting week in, week out ahead of him. 

The upcoming Europa League game against Real Sociedad will be a great indicator to see if AFCB will be adopting the ' start one 'keeper in the league, and the other in every cup game' approach to having 2 GK's who are both more than good enough to play regular minutes in the Premier League.

Other Premier League clubs have adopted this approach, and reaped the rewards of it. Last season, Nottingham Forest starting Stefan Ortega in every Europa League game following his arrival in the January transfer window. When looking at this, giving Petrovic some time out of the starting XI when Cherries aren't playing in the Premier League could be the way forward.

Let's say Cherries do play Di Gregorio in every cup game, domestically and in Europe. How many games does that mean he will play this season?

Assuming AFCB make it to the Quarter Finals of both domestic cups and the Semi Finals of the Europa League, all very plausible outcomes, the 29 year old will play:

3 games in the EFL Cup, 4 FA cup games and a minimum of 14 games in the Europa League, 16 if Bournemouth finish between 9th and 24th in the Europa League group phase.

That makes either 21 or 23 games over the course of the season, with Petrovic playing the other 38 in the Premier League.  

Di Gregorio playing over 20 games for Bournemouth this season would feel like he is more than a backup goalkeeper, but not an outright first choice. On top of that, he has Champions League experience with Juventus, which will work in his favour too.