BOSS Eddie Howe confirmed Cherries were on the verge of signing Benik Afobe from Wolves and described the striker as “the whole package”.

Cherries are set to shatter their club record transfer after agreeing a fee of around £9million with the Championship outfit for the 22-year-old.

Afobe is expected to undergo a medical at Vitality Stadium on Sunday morning when he will also pen a four-and-a-half year contract.

And providing the deal goes through in time, the frontman could be involved in Cherries’ Premier League clash against West Ham on Tuesday.

Confirming the move following Cherries’ FA Cup third round win at Birmingham today, Howe said: “A deal has been agreed. At this stage, there are still hurdles for us to overcome. The player will have to have a medical so we are hopeful we can get the deal done in time for Tuesday.

“I think he will bring pace, strength and, hopefully, goals. He is a good technical player as well and I think he has the whole package so we will be very excited to see him in a Bournemouth shirt if the deal gets completed.”

Afobe will become Cherries’ second addition of the transfer window following the loan signing of Roma winger Juan Iturbe. And the fee will eclipse the £8m the club paid for defender Tyrone Mings from Ipswich in the summer. 

Howe always looked likely to bolster his striking resources after losing last season’s leading marksman Callum Wilson to a serious knee injury in September, while Josh King has been nursing a fragile hamstring.

“I felt we needed a striker,” added Howe. “Losing Callum was a huge blow to us and Josh has had hamstring problems so it has left us very light when you consider we are a Premier League team. We need firepower and we need players who can come in and do the job that we want.

“We are thin on the ground and I think, hopefully, he will add competition for places and real quality in the position.”

Afobe progressed through the ranks at Arsenal and had loan spells at Huddersfield, Reading, Bolton, Millwall, Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons.

He featured twice for Huddersfield against Cherries in the League One play-off semi-final in 2011 and scored for Wolves against Eddie Howe’s team in a 2-1 victory for the Dorset at Dean Court in March.

Cherries’ Premier League rivals Norwich had several bids for Afobe rejected in the summer, while Aston Villa had also been tracking him.

Afobe joined Wolves from Arsenal for £2m a year ago and has scored 23 goals in 48 games for the club. He has netted 10 times in 27 appearances this season but did not feature in their FA Cup defeat at West Ham today.