Todd Cantwell has told talkSPORT that joining Bournemouth on loan in January was a ‘no-brainer’ despite snubbing rival transfer interest and a reported move to Newcastle United.
The midfielder has confirmed he ‘had options’ to leave Norwich City other than from the Cherries in the mid-season market. But he instantly felt a move to the south coast was the perfect fit for this stage of his career after speaking with boss Scott Parker for the first time.
Cantwell fell out of favour at Carrow Road following their return to the Premier League last summer. The 24-year-old had only started five of his eight outings totalling 440-minutes, in which he failed to score or assist. He also failed to feature in 10 of their matchday squads.
Newcastle explored Cantwell’s situation at Norwich in view of a transfer to St James’ Park before he joined Bournemouth. The Telegraph even reported the former England U21 star could have become their second signing under Saudi-led owners following Kieran Trippier.
Yet he ultimately overlooked the Magpies’ interest to join the Cherries for the rest of the season. Bournemouth also secured an option to buy Cantwell this summer for in excess of £10m, at which point the Norwich product will only have a year remaining on his contract.
Cantwell feels Bournemouth move was a ‘no-brainer’ after snubbing Newcastle
Cantwell has been a fixture at Bournemouth since snubbing a transfer to Newcastle when leaving Norwich in January. He has started all three available Championship fixtures so far and featured as a half-time substitute in the Cherries’ FA Cup defeat to Boreham Wood.
Securing regular game time was why Cantwell agreed to leave Carrow Road in the winter market. A chat with Parker also proved the deciding factor in the Dereham-born dynamo moving to Dean Court over his alternative landing spots, both at home and abroad, too.
“At my age, it’s important that I’m playing games, playing often and helping the team,” he said. “It seemed like a no-brainer for me. I had a good amount of interest from multiple different teams. I won’t name them all, but I had options abroad [and] options in England.
“But having the conversation with the manager here, that was the deciding factor for me.
“Everyone knows his career and what he achieved personally. Speaking to him for the first time at that point I really felt like I was on board with everything that he was saying and our visions aligned. When you get something like that you just know it’s going to work.”
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