Among the more surprising developments of last season, from an Irish point of view at least, was Harry Arter's drift from the Bournemouth team and then squad given the twin realities of his previously integral role in the team and his close relationship with Eddie Howe.
Arter rose with Howe and Bournemouth from League One to the Premier League, where both initially excelled. Among Bournemouth's most famous Premier League results since promotion was a 2-1 win over Manchester United in 2016, and the game's iconic image was Howe's embrace of Arter. Howe paid tribute to his Irish midfielder after the game, as Arter played just two days after the stillborn death of his daughter.
Arter, however, fell from favour last year (playing just 13 times in the Premier League) in spite of signing a new four-year contract ahead of the season, and on transfer deadline day Arter moved to Cardiff City on loan.
Speaking to the Bournemouth Echo, Howe said he has not fallen out with Arter and that the move is not motivated by rancour.
From my perspective, would I pick Harry Arter again? Yes, of course I would. If I felt it was best for Bournemouth, I would do that.
How Harry feels is for him to speak about. But from my side, there has been no major falling out or disagreements.
I love the player and the person and wish him well this season.
He needs to be happy in his environment and needs to feel like he has a very good chance of playing so, all those things being well, yes, he could come back and play here for sure.
The difficulty is he desperately wanted to play and to guarantee him those opportunities was very difficult for me.
He didn’t play a great deal towards the back-end of last season and we just felt we needed to keep him playing and enjoying his football. That was key for him so we reluctantly agreed to let him go.
Howe went on to describe Arter as among his best-ever signings as a manager, and admitted that while it will be "strange to see him playing for someone else but we wish him well".
[Bournemouth Echo]
