Bournemouth have rarely been considered anything other than mid-table Premier League lightweights at best and possible relegation candidates at worst until Andoni Iraola took over from Gary O’Neil just over two years ago.

The Cherries finished 15th in the 2022/23 campaign, just five points above the bottom three, but former Rayo Vallecano manager Iraola took them to 12th in his first year in charge and then ninth last term when they finished with a club record 56 points.

It appeared that would be as good as it gets when the south-coast club lost key players to three of the biggest clubs in the game in the summer with central defenders Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi joining Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain respectively and left-back Milos Kerkez heading to Liverpool and on-loan goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga returning to parent club Chelsea before crossing the capital to join Arsenal.

Having a defence ripped apart usually spells disaster and Bournemouth were 300/1 outsiders to win the title, 25/1 to finish in the top four, 9/1 to end the season in the top six and 11/8 to wind up in the top half.

Pessimists could have taken 10/1 for them to be relegated but...