On Tuesday, Bournemouth announced the loan arrival of 29-year-old goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
Should it go well, they have the option to buy the Juventus man for an initial £12 million.
CAREER SO FAR
A youth product of Inter Milan, Di Gregorio’s two-year stint at Monza became permanent in 2022 after he helped the club achieve its first-ever promotion to Serie A.
His first top-flight clean sheet actually came against Juventus in September 2022. That was one of 37 appearances he made as Monza finished up in 11th.
Di Gregorio went on to win Serie A’s ‘Best Goalkeeper’ award in 2023/24, having kept 14 clean sheets and made a league-high 127 saves.
“Michele is a goalkeeper with excellent qualities and valuable experience at the highest level. He has consistently demonstrated his ability in Serie A and in European competitions, and we believe he will be an excellent addition to our squad.” – Tiago Pinto, Bournemouth’s President of Football Operations
Naturally, this took him to the Italian giants – initially on loan. He’s been their first-choice stopper for two seasons, gaining Champions League and Club World Cup experience.
However, a string of error-strewn displays towards the end of his time in Turin dented his reputation. The recent arrivals of Guglielmo Vicario and Kamil Grabara have left him surplus to requirements.
DOES DI GREGORIO THREATEN PETROVIC?
As of now, it’s unclear whether he’ll be Djordje Petrovic‘s (£4.5m) back-up or replacement.
Bournemouth have a bit of a history of signing back-up goalkeepers on loan, on a free or on short-term deals. Christos Mandas, Ionut Radu, Fraser Forster and Neto (who initially warmed the bench before ousting Mark Travers) have all come to the club in recent years. Kepa Arrizabalaga was the exception, signed from Chelsea on loan and immediately installed as number one.
Given the difficult season he’s just had, perhaps Di Gregorio will primarily get the Cherries’ lower-stakes Europa League games as he attempts to restore his reputation.
Petrovic also did little wrong in Gameweek 1 at Manchester City (on the contrary), so it’d be a strange decision to bench him off the back of that.
Perhaps it’ll mainly serve to give Petrovic a shot in the arm. He was at the wrong end of the table for Opta’s expected goals prevented (xGP) in 2025/26, a stat that measures a goalkeeper’s ability to keep out goals based on the quality of shots they’ve faced:
