EDDIE Howe hopes a recent fact-finding mission to Europe will help him prepare for Cherries’ debut season in the Premier League.

Howe and first-team coach Simon Weatherstone headed to Spain to watch highly-respected coach Ernesto Valverde prepare his Athletic Bilbao team for their final La Liga game of the season.

And a few days later, he was joined by Cherries’ head of recruitment Richard Hughes during a visit to Italy where the pair cast an eye over the methods used by Serie A outfits Fiorentina and Empoli.

Valverde has operated on limited resources at Athletic Bilbao and guided a squad comprising mostly Spanish players to seventh in La Liga and the final of the Copa del Rey.

Fiorentina just missed out on a Champions League place under emerging coach Vincenzo Montella, while Empoli, another team based in Florence, are one of the lesser lights in the Italian top flight.

Without the resources associated with their more illustrious neighbours, Empoli have one of the smallest stadiums in Serie A and Italian coach Maurizio Sarri works on a tight budget.

Sarri masterminded promotion from Serie B in his second season last year and, despite winning just eight games, Empoli finished 15th this season, some 10 points clear of relegation.

Howe, who won the coveted LMA manager-of-the-year award, told the Daily Echo: “There were a whole host of reasons behind going, including building relationships with people at other clubs. I think that is very important.

“We are open to partnerships with clubs from Italy, Spain and other countries and it is about getting the AFC Bournemouth name around Europe. A lot of people will not have heard of us before so it is important to promote our name.

“We were able to look at certain ways of working and what people are doing in other countries. It is important to me as a coach to develop myself and to look at players to see the level compared with our squad.

“It is important not to pitch yourself at an unrealistic level where you aren’t really going to get too much from it. The clubs were specifically chosen, as were the coaches. To learn from certain people and their experiences was very worthwhile and everybody was very accommodating.”

Following Cherries’ pre-season training camp in America, Howe’s team will face German outfit Hoffenheim and French club Nantes in warm-up games.

Howe added: “With our pitch being worked on for most of the summer, it was a difficult pre-season schedule for us to put together. The fact we are a Premier League club means we can’t play other Premier League teams.

“It meant we had to look farther afield so we looked at the top leagues in France and Germany. The games will test our players to adapt to the challenge that awaits and I think the schedule is a demanding one.”