AFC Bournemouth: Howe happy with squad but could sign young player

Howe has brought in six players on permanent deals this summer – Jordon Ibe, Lewis Cook, Lys Mousset, Brad Smith, Emerson Hyndman and Marc Wilson – while Nathan Ake came in on loan from Chelsea.

But ahead of the closure of the window at the end of this month, Howe has revealed he may attempt to attract another new face to Vitality Stadium.

Asked if he was content with his squad, Howe said: "I'm satisfied. We are 99 per cent of the way there. I don't want to add too many more to the group because we are quite high in numbers.

"There is potentially one position we might look at but whether that will fall for us I don't know and that would be more of a younger player for the future rather than for now.

"Unless we do that deal, we will stay as we are."

Howe is content with the impact of his summer signings and says he is confident they will have a big part to play at the club.

He added: "Naturally, I’m going to say I’m pleased. They all have huge potential to become very good players for us for a number of years.

"We’re not going to see the ready-made product now with a lot of those players.

"They are not going to be necessarily regular starters for us at this point but from what I’ve seen, they are going to be very good players for the future.

"I think we are stronger in numbers and quality and I think we have a very good work ethic within the squad as well. I don't think that's changed and that's one of the key things I've had to protect all through my time here.

"Whenever you recruit players you have to make sure you don't lose your identity and how you work every day. The most pleasing thing for me is the lads have shown a great mentality towards training."

Quizzed on whether he expected any departures, Howe said: “Possibly. We’ll wait and see.

“The big thing will be if we can’t give players game time here and they need to progress their careers elsewhere. We’re not desperate to move anybody on.”