Promoted Premier League side Bournemouth on Tuesday announced the signing of Ivory Coast forward Max-Alain Gradel from Saint-Etienne on a four-year contract.
The deal sees Gradel, 27, return to a club where he previously spent two spells on loan during the 2007-08 season.
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The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media reports said Bournemouth had agreed to pay a fee of around A?7 million ($10.9 million, 10 million euros).
“He had real ability and was an eye-catching performer,” said Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe of Gradel’s first stint at the club.
“Our supporters took to him straight away and, hopefully, they will do that again. I have no doubts that they will rekindle their love for him.”
Gradel had earlier played for Bournemouth in 2007/08
Gradel was loaned to Bournemouth by Leicester City, who sold him to Leeds United in 2010 after a loan spell at Elland Road and 18 months later he moved to Saint-Etienne.
He excelled in the 2014-15 season, scoring 17 goals in 31 Ligue 1 games as Saint-Etienne secured a fifth-place finish that took them into the Europa League.
Gradel has been capped over 40 times by Ivory Coast, scoring eight goals, and was an influential member of the team that triumphed against Ghana in the final of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
He became Bournemouth’s seventh new signing of the transfer window and the club later announced that 26-year-old forward Lee Tomlin had joined from Middlesbrough on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
By AFP
