Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe. (Getty Images)
According to The Sun, Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is eyeing a swoop for Brentford ace Chris Mepham in January. The Cherries had failed to land the youngster with a £10million bid in the summer.
Mepham was a part of the Chelsea academy till 2012 but was released at the age of 14 and faced rejection from the academies of Watford and Queens Park Rangers before joining the Brentford academy in 2012. After a series of impressive performances for the development team, he signed his first professional contract in 2016 and made his senior debut in the 2016/17 season.
However, Mepham had to wait till the 2017/18 season to make his breakthrough and registered 23 appearances across all competitions. The Welshman has established himself as a regular starter for Brentford in the Championship this season as well, having made 12 starts so far.
Bournemouth have caught the eye with some wonderful free-flowing football and Eddie Howe’s side are currently 6th in the standings with 16 points from their first eight games. It is true that other teams like Wolverhampton Wanderers and Watford have stolen the limelight but the Cherries have put up some consistent displays of their own.
While most of their success has been down to the heroics of their attacking trio of Joshua King, Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser, the defenders have played their part as well. Bournemouth have shipped only 12 goals so far, which are commendable stats given that they do not boast of big names at the back.
The centre-back pairing of Steve Cook and Nathan Ake has kept things pretty tight and haven’t allowed much free space for the opposition to exploit. Apart from a rare bad day at the office against Burnley where the Cherries shipped four goals, the centre-backs have done really well.
Chris Mepham is a modern-day centre-back who is physically well-endowed and boasts of good game-reading abilities for a defender his age. At 20, the Brentford youngster has made his cut into the Wales senior team as well, having represented his nation at the youth levels.
The Welshman is similar to John Stones in some regards. Quite like the Manchester City star, Mepham is good with the ball at his feet. Blessed with a sound technique and excellent levels of composure, Mepham is comfortable while in possession and has the ability to play out from the back.
He has an enviable range of passing for a centre-back and does not hesitate to go into tackles. Furthermore, the 20-year-old has shown a marked improvement in his decision-making which has allowed him to defend with greater confidence.
A brief look at his statistics speaks volumes about his development. Mepham has a pass success percentage of 87.1 and has managed to win an impressive 3.4 aerial duels per game in the Championship this season. As evident from the figures, he is aerially strong and often uses his prowess to good effect on both sides of the pitch.
To go with his passing and aerial skills, the 20-year-old has equally impressive stats in terms of tackling, having averaged 1.6 tackles, 1.7 interceptions and 4.8 clearances per game.
Bournemouth have a promising young centre-back in Jack Simpson, who played in the 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the Carabao Cup. Hence, it would be a brilliant move by Howe to lure Mepham to Vitality Stadium as he could be the ideal man to cover for the absence of Nathan Ake and Steve Cook.
As the season wears on, injuries are likely to creep in and the Cherries need more options at the back to avoid a crisis that might end up bottling their campaign.