EDDIE Howe hailed "great professional" Asmir Begovic and said the goalkeeper had paid off his £10million transfer fee.

The towering Bosnian did not miss a minute of the Premier League campaign after completing a permanent move from Chelsea last summer.

Begovic even played through the pain barrier after suffering a knee injury in training, his solid displays helping Cherries secure top flight status for a third straight season.

Quizzed on the stopper's ever-present campaign, Howe told the Daily Echo: "It says something about his consistency, attitude and how he looks after himself. All of those things are boxed up with Asmir.

"He is one of the great professionals and is very dedicated to his goalkeeping and his body, and he puts himself out there.

"It's the same in training. I can't really remember him missing a day's training.

"He had a knee complaint but that was the only niggle he had and his goalkeeping has been at a really good level."

Asked if Begovic had paid off his transfer fee, Howe said: "I think so. It's always difficult to judge because the values these days are so high that you never quite know how it equates.

"But from my perspective I'm delighted with him. I think he improved as the season went on and ended it very strongly, so that's a good sign for next season."

A Premier League title-winner with Chelsea in 2016-17, Begovic replaced Artur Boruc as Howe's favoured first choice and kept six clean sheets during the campaign.

He also appeared in all 10 of Bosnia & Herzegovina's World Cup qualifiers as they finished third in Group H behind Belgium and Greece.

Begovic has been called up by national boss Robert Prosinecki for friendlies against Montenegro on Monday, May 28 and South Korea on Friday, June 1, the latter fixture taking place in Jeonju.

The former Stoke City star heads into those games off the back of what he views as a successful season.

Discussing playing every minute in the league, Begovic said: “I was very pleased with that. First and foremost, I really enjoyed it.

“I enjoy the challenge and I take pride in my consistency, reliability and durability.

“To be able to play every minute has been great. I appreciate the trust from my team-mates and the manager. It has been a good season.

“There had been some good moments in big games. We won against some of the big teams and won at key moments.

“There had been a few highs and lows like every season but the main thing we focused on was to stick together and keep grinding out positive results."