Chris Mepham Snubs Aston Villa to Sign For Bournemouth

Chris Mepham Snubs Aston Villa to Sign For Bournemouth
Spread the love

Chris Mepham today finally signed for Premier League Bournemouth. The fee as per usual was undisclosed but the word is £12m plus add-ons was enough to secure the services of the young Wales international.

The move came after Mepham rejected a reunion with ex Brentford manager Dean Smith. Our (very good) sources have told us that Villa actually bid more than £12m for Mepham (not so good add-ons mind you) and offered a more lucrative personal package. But the West London lad opted for a Premier League move instead and a link-up with Eddie Howe who has a reputation for plucking young talent out and developing them to another level.

The transfer has been in the offing for a year or so – ever since Eddie Howe was seen down at Griffin Park on consecutive match days eying up the young starlet. 

A surprise to many, Howe put in a bid of £6m for Mepham who barely had a dozen first team games under his belt at the time. 

Embed from Getty Images

Brentford firmly rejected the deal believing that the player still had a lot of potential. Being one of Ryan Giggs’ golden boys in the Wales international set up, it was figured if clubs valued him at £8m then, he would be worth much more in a year or two’s time. 

Bournemouth came in once again in the summer offering £10m which was rejected once again. 

Having being picked up by the Brentford B-team after having being dropped by Chelsea academy and rejected by his boyhood club QPR, Mepham played 39 games for the Brentford first team. He was Brentford’s late technical director Rob Rowan’s most proud developments – having given him a well defined path from the B-team to the Brentford first team.

Assistant coach Kev O’Connor enthused to us at last year’s Beesotted Xmas Bees-Up (below) about about Chris’ unbelievable work ethic. He felt that his unbelievable work attitude alone would get him a long way – never mind his technical ability. 

 

Mepham leaves Brentford with Bees fans blessing. An old head on a young pair of shoulders, he always gave 100% commitment in his short playing career for The Bees. I have always said that England scouts missed a trick allowing this young lad to be snapped up by Wales early doors. Brentford were obviously not fashionable enough at the time for them.

No doubt, we will be seeing much more from Chris in the near future. Little did he know when this season started that he would most likely be running out against Arsenal twice at The Emirates this season.

Best of luck on the South Coast son.

Hopefully we’ll see you in a year or two. 

We will be chatting about the Mepham transfer on this week’s Pride of West London podcast which will go live on Friday at 7am. We have a very special guest so make sure you subscribe right (below on apple podcasts,  google podcasts or spotify) to have it downloaded to your phone or laptop first thing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Billy Grant
@BillyTheBee99

MORE RECENT CONTENT

MOST READ CONTENT

Ceefax & The Wonder That Was Page 312

Ceefax & The Wonder That Was Page 312

Please spare a thought for us exiled supporters who have to stay up ‘til unearthly hours around the world, desperate to find out the Bees’ score. Admittedly myriad options are available to us that are now take for granted; live commentary via the excellent Bees...

The Bee Job Question

The Bee Job Question

Three weeks ago I had a job interview. An interview for a job I was actually quite interested in, rather than just being a way out of the harrowingly dull, underachieving job I have at the moment. I have by me now the letter that arrived today, which will tell me...

The Great Brentford Song Scam

The Great Brentford Song Scam

For years Brentford fans have constantly been evolving the songs they employ to support their team. Scientists and historians, such as myself, rarely take an interest in such forms of tribal worship. But, after being approached by Beesotted to take a closer look at...

1942 Leagues Under The Sea – John Chandler RIP

1942 Leagues Under The Sea – John Chandler RIP

 I was in the Navy during the War serving on H.M.S. Cairo (pictured above) when in 1942, Brentford played Portsmouth at Wembley, in the war-time F.A. Cup Final. I couldn’t attend as I was stationed in the Mediterranean around Gibraltar but my father went to the game...

About The Author

BillytheBee Grant

Following Brentford for 30 years plus now.. write .. blog .. videoblog .. podcast ... photograph ...eat .. sleep .. Brentford.. am known to attend the occasional England match too (12 tournaments now) so am hardened to failure ...On the board and national council of the Football Supporters Federation.... organised husky dog racing for a living back in the day ... as you do ..You don't wanna go up!!

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Brentford Global Fans’ Network

Podcast Subscription

Open Beesotted Podcast

Support Beesotted

Contact Beesotted

Beesotted Archive

Bees News Now