It is the signing that concludes a perfect summer for Eddie Howe, a deal that has seen the Bournemouth manager assemble the strongest squad in the club’s history.



The sight of Harry Wilson holding up a Bournemouth shirt on Tuesday evening has understandably gone down well among Cherries fans – the deal is rightly regarded as a major coup for Howe, given the level of interest from rival Premier League clubs, including Newcastle, and a nagging reluctance from Jurgen Klopp to allow the young Welshman to depart.



It was also a transfer born out of an unspoken ‘special relationship’, one that began more than 15 years earlier at another south coast club and has seen a steady stream of players making the journey from Merseyside to Dorset in recent seasons.



Howe does not have too many reasons to look back fondly on his time at Portsmouth.



A serious knee injury that would ultimately end his playing career aged just 32 restricted him to...