DONE DEAL: Bournemouth Excellent defender completes his move to club rival as bid goodbye…

Third loan signing confirmed by League One club ahead of home match against Northampton Town on Saturday afternoon

AFC Bournemouth defender Owen Bevan has completed a season-long loan move to Cheltenham Town, as revealed by Gloucestershire Live on Sunday.

The 19-year-old underwent a medical on Thursday and is set to be included in the squad to face Northampton Town at the Completely-Suzuki Stadium on Saturday.

“I’m buzzing really,” Bevan said. “It’s a big step in my career coming up to League One, it’s exactly what I need and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“For me most importantly, it’s always defend first. I like to be aggressive, on the front foot but I like to play a bit too, nice and composed.

 

“It’ll be good to get out in front of the fans and hopefully get our first win of the season this weekend.”

Cheltenham’s head of recruitment Russell Milton added: “We’re delighted to welcome Owen to the club. He’s a welcome addition who will further add to our squad.

“He’s a good and solid all round defender with good attributes in all aspects of the game, particularly defending.

“It’s been a little while coming, but we’re happy to finally get the deal done and we’re looking forward to having him here at Cheltenham.”

Bevan becomes Cheltenham’s third loan signing of the summer after Nottingham Forest’s Oli Hammond and Luciano D’Auria-Henry from Fulham.

They have also made six permanent additions: Luke Southwood, Jamie Pardington, Curtis Davies, Curtis Thompson, Liam Smith and Rob Street.

Bevan has made one Premier League appearance for his parent club, also featuring in the EFL Cup against Norwich City.

 

He has been on Bournemouth’s books since the age of nine and he was converted from a midfielder to a defender at 14.

He was appointed captain of the Cherries’ Under-18s ahead of the 2021/22 campaign and successfully graduated to the development squad for 2022/23, training regularly with the first team.

Bevan spent time on loan at Truro City during the second half of 2021/22, making 16 appearances and scoring once for the then Southern League Premier Division South club.

 

He joined Bournemouth’s first team for a pre-season training camp in Portugal in July 2022 and featured in a pre-season friendly defeat by Real Sociedad at Vitality Stadium later that month.

His progress continued with a Premier League debut in August 2022 when he came off the bench during the 9-0 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield.

The following month, he made his debut for Wales Under-21s in a friendly against Austria in Vienna.