CHERRIES' trip to Philadelphia has sealed it for Steve Cook – he wants to play in the MLS.

But the Dean Court faithful have no reason to fear their linchpin defender getting restless with his plan to live the American Dream firmly on the backburner for now.

Cook and his team-mates have spent the past six days preparing for their Premier League bow in the United States and round off with a friendly against hosts Philadelphia Union tonight (midnight, BST).

Cherries took in Union’s 3-0 triumph over a Portland Timbers side that featured ex-Aston Villa defender Liam Ridgewell and Dairon Asprilla, son of former Newcastle striker Tino, on Saturday.

And having been taken aback by his first experience of the MLS fanfare, the Cherries centre-half admits playing in it would be an alluring prospect in the future.

Cook told the Daily Echo: “Once I’m a bit older, maybe in my 30s when I am looking to do something a bit different, I would like to play in America.

“They do things very well and the whole experience has opened my eyes. I have only seen the one game and admittedly, Philadelphia won but the atmosphere was terrific and one of the best I have experienced.

“They had loud music blaring out when they scored and everyone went crazy. It is a very different type of celebration and the whole thing is more of a show. It was enjoyable to take it all in.

“With the way the game is growing over here, by the time I get the chance to consider it properly it will be even bigger than it is now.

“When you see the top players choosing to come over, you always think it would be nice to follow in their footsteps and seeing how it all works makes it all the more attractive for me.

“Hopefully, anything like that is a long way away yet but it is definitely something I would be interested in when the time is right.”

Cook, ever present alongside partner in crime Tommy Elphick at the heart of Cherries’ defence last season, was also complimentary of the standard on show at PPL Park ahead of the squad's first chance to impress boss Eddie Howe this summer.

He added: “Union were decent and had some good players. It was a very hot night which affected the pace of the game but they were good technically and it will be a tough test for us.

“We knew it would be a good standard because of the amount of well-known players over here. It is a slower pace than we play but as a team, we like to set a high tempo.

"Hopefully, we can give them a good taste of what we do and it will be a good learning curve for us.

“The lads have been terrific. We have one goal in sight now which is the Aston Villa game and everyone is working their socks off to cement their place in the team.”