Jordon Ibe starts to revive his career
The former England youth star was a £15 million bust last season. It looks like this season might be a lot better.
Jordon Ibe, once one of the biggest young rising stars in the Premier League, was very bad last season. His £15 million transfer to AFC Bournemouth was among the worst made by any club in England last summer. But his two assists against Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday have inspired some hope that Ibe might finally get his career going.
Ibe joined Liverpool from Wycombe as a teenager and spent the first half of the 2014-15 season on loan at Derby County in the Championship, tallying five goals and an assist. Due to his good performances and some injury problems, Liverpool recalled him and he saw some minutes as a backup for the rest of the season.
The following year, Ibe was handed a bigger role and expected to step up his production, but he was slightly disappointing, producing four goals and four assists in 43 appearances. Only one goal and two assists came in the Premier League. So when Bournemouth came calling with a big offer, Liverpool decided they’d rather have the money than Ibe’s untapped potential.
So far, Liverpool appears to have pulled off a robbery. Ibe put up no goals, no assists and countless turnovers during his 26 appearances for Bournemouth last season. If Bournemouth wanted to move on from him, they likely couldn’t have — Ibe was poor enough that he didn’t have much of a market.
But the Cherries were given some reason to believe that Ibe can turn his career around on Friday, as well as three points. With Brighton leading, Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe decided to substitute Ibe into the game, and he delivered with two absolutely gorgeous assists. helping Bournemouth to a 2-1 victory. First for the equalizer:
This is just two passes as part as one short substitute appearance. But last season, Ibe never appeared capable of making plays like these. These two assists don’t represent a turnaround in Ibe’s career by themselves, but they’re going to earn him some more playing time. And with that, he might finally make a big impact for Bournemouth and justify his transfer fee.