This time last week England’s Under 21 manager Gareth Southgate unexpectedly mentioned Eddie Howe as a potential, future head coach of the national team.

‘Eddie Howe is going to get a lot of attention because of where he is and it is a fantastic story,’ declared Southgate on the day he named his squad for this summer’s Under 21 tournament in the Czech Republic.

At the time Southgate was talking up the Bournemouth manager, Howe was in Spain watching Ernesto Valverde at work as he prepared his Athletic Bilbao team for the final La Liga game of the season.

Eddie Howe guided Bournemouth to the Premier League by winning the Championship

Bournemouth clinched the title with a 3-0 victory at Charlton on the final day of the season

Bournemouth’s ambitious young coach, who won the coveted LMA Manager of the Year on Tuesday night, is a stickler for detail and he wanted to broaden his managerial mind as the league season was coming to a close in Spain and Italy.

Howe took his first-team coach Simon Featherstone with him, making Athletic Club Sport Centre the first port of call to watch some of Valverde’s training sessions.

They looked on from the sidelines, studiously making notes and following their methods as Valverde, a well travelled and respected Spanish coach, prepared for their clash with Villarreal.

The trip was beyond the call of duty, but it was a short window of opportunity for Bournemouth’s young manager following their promotion to the Barclays Premier League.

He is dedicated to his craft, eager to learn and soak up some of the experience from overseas clubs as he prepares to manage in a new, untried environment. It’s impressive stuff.

Howe, Weatherstone and Bournemouth’s assistant manager Jason Tindall did not play at the highest level of the game, but they have an eye for a player and a burning ambition to succeed next season. They are an impressive combination.

The acclimatisation to their new surroundings began on May 9, just seven days after Bournemouth won the Championship with a thumping 3-0 victory at Charlton on the final day of the Football League season.

Howe travelled to the continent and studied the methods of Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde (pictured)

Howe was at Selhurst Park on May 9, taking his seat in the directors' box for the first time as a Premier League manager to watch Crystal Palace lose 2-1 to Manchester United. A few days later he was in Spain, watching Valverde’s coaching techniques in the build up to Athletic Bilbao’s 4-0 victory at home to Villarreal on the final day of the season in La Liga.

With the exception of the French defender Aymeric Laporte, Athletic’s entire squad is comprised of Spanish players. It is a step away from the cosmopolitan arena of English football.

Valverde has done a decent job on limited resources, finishing the season in a respectable seventh place and preparing for this weekend’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in the Nou Camp.

By the time Athletic Bilbao completed their league season, Howe had moved on to Italy to watch some of Serie A’s creative managerial minds at work.

Gareth Southgate, pictured in a press conference last week, reckons Howe could one day manage England

Harry Arter celebrates scoring in Bournemouth's title-clinching victory over Charlton at the start of May

He was joined by Richard Hughes in Italy, the former Portsmouth and Bournemouth midfielder who has been added to Howe’s recruitment team. Hughes began his professional career with Atalanta and his ability to speak the language was clearly an advantage during their visits to Fiorentina and Empoli.

The double sessions that are favoured in Italy fascinate Howe, with shorter spells twice a day favoured by some of the country’s coaches. Fiorentina have been on a decent run of late, winning their last four games under their emerging coach Vincenzo Montella. They will just miss out on a Champions League place.

Montella’s team are used to life nearer the top of Serie A but Howe knows that his Bournemouth side are likely to spend their first season in the Premier League in the lower half of the table.

The trick to surviving the elite is the subtle differences, the little advantages that can keep a young, relatively inexperienced management team in the division.

Fiorentina, managed by Vincenzo Montella (above), was one of the clubs Howe paid a visit to

For that reason Howe also visited Empoli, another team based in Florence but without the resources usually associated with their more illustrious neighbours.

Like Bournemouth they have a small arena, seating just over 16,000 at the Stadio Carlo Castellani and the 56-year-old Italian coach Maurizio Sarri works on a tight budget.

He won promotion from Serie B in his second season in charge last year, heading for Serie A after an absence of six years from the top flight of Italian football.

They will be there again next season, 15th in the table after a 1-1 draw with Sampdoria at the weekend and 10 points clear of relegation danger.

Despite their reasonable league position Empoli have won just eight games in the league. It has left a deep impression on Howe.

In a few weeks’ time Howe’s team will report for pre-season training as Premier League players, heading for Philadelphia to begin their preparations for the season ahead.

They know it will be tough, particularly when it comes to recruiting players in the face of some fairly stiff competition from the established clubs in the Premier League.