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Striker Daniel Adu-Adjei has put pen to paper on his first professional contract with AFC Bournemouth.
The under-18s frontman has signed a two-year professional contract, keeping him with the Cherries until at least the summer of 2025.
After penning the deal, he said, “I’m delighted to have signed my first professional contract, it’s something I’ve worked my whole life for.”
“I would like to thank my family, God and everyone around the club for their support. I want to kick on now and hopefully progress and keep improving.”
“I’ve had ups and downs during my scholarship. I was really pleased with my first year and things went well for me.”
“I had an injury at the start of this season which held me back a bit but I came through it thanks to the support I received from everybody.”
“There is a tremendous community spirit here and they allow you to concentrate on your football rather than think about all the other stuff.”
Adu-Adjei’s deal comes following a campaign in which he’s picked up experience across three Bournemouth squads, as well as currently being on loan with Poole Town.
Beginning the season in the under-18s, he quickly made his first development squad appearances before featuring in first-team matchday squads in recent months.
Having joined the club in March 2021 from Fulham FC, the 17-year-old forward enjoyed a prolific first campaign in the club’s youth ranks, netting 25 goals for the under-18s.
Despite being sidelined by an injury early in the 2022/23 term, Adu-Adjei again provided an impressive goals return with nine and three assists in 12 outings.
With all nine of those strikes coming in the EFL Youth Alliance, he was Cherries’ top scorer as Dan Carroll’s side claimed the South West title.
His under-18s record is complemented by a goal on his development squad debut, having found the back of the net in the 3-0 Premier League Cup victory away to Brighton & Hove Albion.
A place on the bench for first-team games against Newcastle United, Brentford and Nottingham Forest have completed a memorable 22/23 season for the striker.
He continued on those experiences, “Travelling with the first team and being on the bench was a really good experience. It was inspiring to see how professionals conduct themselves.”
“I know there’s a lot more work to put in and know how hard it is going to be, especially from this point. I’ve got to keep working hard and keep having faith in myself to make sure I push on further.”
Throughout Adu-Adjei’s two years with the under-18s, he worked under former Cherries striker Alan Connell.
He now has the opportunity to continue to work with Connell after the coach stepped up to manage the development squad in recent months.
“I’m absolutely delighted that Daniel’s committed his long-term future to the club,” Connell said on the 17-year-old’s contract.
“He’s a very hard-working, level-headed young man who moved down from London two years ago after being released by Fulham and he’s shown a lot of resilience, robustness and quality to get him to where he is today.”
“Obviously, he’s got a long way to go but he’s a goalscorer with really bright movement and works really hard off the ball as well, which is another vital attribute of the modern-day centre-forward.”
The coach continued, “We’re really excited to continue to work with him and, hopefully, he can push on after having recent involvement with our first team.”
“Hopefully, he can push on and get more exposure at that level now he’ll be playing more development squad games and he’s out on loan at Poole Town at the moment.”
“He’s in a good place and it’s important now that he continues to work hard like we know he will and continue to show the improvements he’s made in the last two years.”
