MANY Cherries fans must have thought ‘who is going to be our keeper?’ when trying to predict Eddie Howe’s plans ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

A host of stoppers with Premier League and European experience were reported as being options for the club to pursue.

But when Aaron Ramsdale started the first pre-season game against former loan club AFC Wimbledon back in July – not many would have foreseen his rapid rise to becoming a Premier League regular.

However, it is fair to say the affable stopper has already made himself a huge hit with the club’s supporters on and off the pitch during his first eight games at the top level.

Confident and charismatic during interviews since the hype around him intensified – you can already tell the Stoke-born sensation has the mentality to go to the very top.

The aptly-named ‘Turn Back Time’ by Aqua was number one in the UK chart when Ramsdale was born.

Twenty-one years on, Eddie Howe ironically labelled the keeper “old school” during last week’s pre-match press conference.

On the subject of singing, Cherries’ fans have already started chanting “England’s number one” when the youngster has pulled off crucial saves this campaign.

For now, he will have to make do with his country’s under-21 jersey - a place he looks set to nail down during the 2021 UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign.

While Ramsdale is poised to jet around the continent as one of England’s hottest prospects – it is with Cherries’ first team home and away the star has started to shine.

Admittedly, he is yet to keep a clean sheet in the league this season.

But that does not stop him from showing his passion for the club when a goal goes in at the other end.

“I just have fun. I play football to have fun – it’s my hobby,” he said in a recent interview with afcbTV.

“I’ll give everything for this team, so when we score all my passion comes out, all my enjoyment – it’s like I’ve scored myself.

“It’s quite lonely (at the other end), so I just try to wind up who I can wind up in the stands.

“There will be a few knee slides, a few jumps and a bit of running around. If it’s a tap-in, I’ll still celebrate the same.”

Supporters at Vitality Stadium will undoubtedly want to see these celebrations for years to come – a report this week claimed Cherries were ready to offer the Young Lions ace a new contract.

Arsene Wenger once said a goalkeeper’s peak age is between 28 and 37 – Ramsdale still has seven years before entering that bracket.

The youngster only has to look at 39-year-old team-mate Artur Boruc’s impressive CV to show how exciting the next 20 years of his life could be.

But with Cherries having spotted his talent as a teenager and recruited him from Sheffield United for the meagre sum of around £1million in January 2017, Ramsdale looks set to be another fantastic piece of business for the Dorset club, whose vision goes far beyond recruiting for the here and now.