Lee Tomlin swapped Teesside for the South Coast in August 2015 for £5m, however opportunities were hard to come by under Eddie Howe in the Premier League.
The now Bristol City man spoke to the Bristol Post and reflected on the mistakes made when making the switch from Middlesbrough to Bournemouth and is keen to not have a repeat this time around and looking forward to improving on last season.
“There were five or six clubs that came in (for me this summer), including some of the top clubs in the Championship and one team in the Premier League,” Tomlin said.
“I wanted to think carefully. I more or less jumped at it (last summer) when I took my move to Bournemouth, because I wanted to play in the Premier League. But I wanted to not rush into anything too quickly (this time around).
“I didn’t want to rush into anything like that again, because Bournemouth didn’t really work out for me and I didn’t enjoy it either.”
Lee Tomlin celebrates scoring for Bristol City
After an impressive spell at Peterborough United Tomlin was rewarded with a move to promotion chasing Middlesbrough where he impressed in 18 months scoring 12 goals in 59 appearances under Aitor Karanka where he secured his move to Bournemouth.
The 27 year-old only featured six times from August to January before his transfer to Bristol City in January 2016 where he appeared 18 times as well as scoring six goals during his loan spell at Ashton Gate before making his switch permanent this summer.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Tomlin continued. “That’s just the way I am. I enjoyed everything about it when I came here and the gaffer and the lads made me feel really welcome. I thought ‘why not enjoy my football again and come to Bristol City.”
No doubt the midfielder will want to start the season on a brighter note compared to last campaign and hopefully start to get the recognition he received in his time in the North East which saw him get his dream move to a Premier League club.
Lee Tomlin in action with Sam Clucas and Mohamed Diame of Hull City
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