Bournemouth have reportedly reached a decision on the future of former Leeds United loanee Jaidon Anthony.
Anthony spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan at Elland Road but struggled to make a significant impact, having been part of the deal that took Luis Sinisterra in the opposite direction.
He managed just two league starts during the entirety of his time at Leeds, eventually becoming Daniel Farke‘s fourth choice winger due to the form of Crysencio Summerville, Willy Gnonto and Dan James.
In a message to supporters on Instagram, Anthony has already seemingly dropped a major hint that he will not be coming back to Leeds on a permanent deal.
However, despite his lack of game time, it will be interesting to see if anything changes regarding a move, given that both Summerville and Gnonto could be on the move this summer.
Bournemouth reportedly make decision on Anthony’s future
Cherries boss Andoni Iraola spoke a couple of times on Anthony’s future during the season, most recently in May as he acknowledged his difficult campaign after sending him out on loan.
Earlier on in 2024, Iraola made it clear that Anthony is a player he wants to work with again for pre-season, despite the fact he was happy to see him go last August, and has seen his progress stall since.
Bournemouth are stacked when it comes to wide options themselves, with Sinisterra, Antoine Semenyo, Marcus Tavernier, Justin Kluivert, Dango Ouattara and Romain Faivre all competing for two spots.
With that in mind, Bournemouth have actually already reportedly made a decision on what they will do with Anthony, as per BBC Sport.
It is said Anthony’s future could actually be away from Bournemouth if they receive the ‘right offer’ this summer, though how much that could be, remains unclear.
His loan spell in West Yorkshire will have done very little to increase his value for Bournemouth, while he still remains under contract for another three years.
Should Leeds try sign Anthony permanently?
As mentioned, Leeds are likely to be in the market for wingers this summer with talks already underway with Brighton over a deal for Summerville, and interest from Italy in Gnonto.
Anthony has proven himself at this level before when he was actually handed the chance to play regularly, scoring eight goals and providing six assists during Bournemouth’s promotion campaign of 2021/22.
At 24, he also still has plenty of room for improvement, but unfortunately on the evidence of what he showed last season, Leeds should look elsewhere.
While clearly a good player, he is not at the level of either Summerville or Gnonto and Leeds will need something better in order to replace them.