Gary O’Neil said that he is “hopeful” that Jefferson Lerma will stay at the club, with the midfielder’s contract expiring at the end of this season.
The Colombian joined the Cherries in the Summer of 2018 with his five-year deal expiring on June 30th meaning that Bournemouth could lose him on a free transfer this summer. Lerma has been an integral part of Bournemouth’s fight against relegation this season, scoring two goals against Leeds in last weekend’s fixture.
O’Neil said: “No decision made yet as far as I’m aware so hopeful he’ll be here of course”
“Jeff’s a great guy. Incredible around the place incredible around the group especially if you’re in a relegation battle and you need to get in the trenches and me, Jeff, the club have been fully focused on that up until this moment.”
“If Jeff was to leave I think he’d have huge respect from absolutely everybody, fans absolutely love him and rightly so he’s been incredible and still is an incredible player for the football team.”
The Bournemouth manager also confirmed that Moore will miss tomorrow’s game through concussion, and Stanislas and Fredericks won’t play for the Cherries again this season.
Bournemouth have the chance to confirm survival and climb above visitors Chelsea in tomorrow’s game, with the two teams coming into the match in opposite form with the Cherries picking up four wins in their last five games whereas Chelsea haven’t won a game since the start of March and interim manager Frank Lampard losing all six of his games in charge of the blues.
O’Neil said: “We’re definitely not favourites for tomorrow. Absolutely no chance Chelsea are a very good side with fantastic players. It hasn’t clicked yet, if it clicks tomorrow then it’s a tough afternoon for the lads and we need to be at 100% as we have been for the last few to give Chelsea a real good game.”
“I think it would be silly of us or anyone to think that we’re a better side than Chelsea going into this football match they’re still very very dangerous”.
You can keep up to date with tomorrow’s game on twitter with @nerve_sport posting a live blog and a match report on our website at full-time.