AFC Bournemouth have completed the signing of Sevilla right-back Juanlu Sánchez, confirmed on Thursday in a deal reported to be worth an initial €11m (£9.5m), with a further €2m (£1.7m) available through performance-related add-ons. The 22-year-old Spaniard has signed a long-term contract, reported to run to the summer of 2030, and Sevilla have kept a sell-on clause worth a reported 10 to 20 per cent of any future transfer fee. He travelled from Sevilla's pre-season camp in the Netherlands to England to complete the move.
Bournemouth needed a new right-back after Alex Jiménez left on loan for Fiorentina, and Juanlu was identified early as their leading target for the role. He offers genuine senior experience with the versatility to play as a conventional full-back or push on as a wing-back, and club president of football operations Tiago Pinto said Bournemouth had watched him prove himself "domestically and in European competitions", giving them confidence in his "ability to compete at the top level consistently". His attacking instincts and comfort on the ball also suit new head coach Marco Rose, whose teams typically ask full-backs to get forward and support attacks rather than just defend.
For Sevilla, the sale is as much a financial decision as a footballing one. Juanlu came through the club's academy, so almost all of the fee counts as pure profit on the balance sheet, and the money is useful for a club that has had well-documented financial problems in recent years. It still costs them a player who made over 100 appearances across five seasons in the first team and had signed a new contract to stay until 2029 only last year, having been considered a long-term fixture at right-back. Speaking as he left for England, Juanlu called the move "a good project to continue growing", adding: "The club needed that income, and I also needed to keep growing" — a fair summary of why both sides did the deal.
Juanlu was a regular starter for Sevilla last season, making more than 30 La Liga appearances and chipping in with three assists from right-back, on top of Champions League and Europa League football during his time in Seville. He was also part of the Spain squad that won Olympic gold in Paris in 2024, experience that points to an athletic, high-energy full-back used to big occasions rather than a squad player making up the numbers.
He arrives as Bournemouth's third significant summer signing under Marco Rose, following striker Álvaro Rodríguez and centre-back Antonio Silva, and should compete immediately for the right-back spot left open by Jiménez's departure. His willingness to overlap and join attacks should suit a Bournemouth side built to press high and move the ball forward quickly, while his defensive record gives Rose a like-for-like swap at the back without losing energy going the other way.
Rose takes charge of his first full season at the club after replacing Andoni Iraola in the summer, and rebuilding the full-back areas has clearly been a priority alongside his other business at the back, with Silva added at centre-back too. Juanlu's age and contract length also fit the pattern of Bournemouth's recent recruitment: players who are the finished article but still young enough to be sold on again if they progress as hoped.