Sources close to the player have told the Daily Echo that he has doubts on leaving Cherries due to a strong affection he holds for both the club and fanbase. A club record signing, Lerma arrived at Vitality Stadium in the summer of 2018 for a fee believed to be in the region of £25 million from then La Liga outfit Levante. As it appears Cherries have all but confirmed their Premier League status for a second successive season, there is now an opportunity for talks to restart. Speaking on Lerma’s future at the start of May,
Gary O’Neil commented: “No decision made at the moment, as far as I’m aware, so hopefully he’ll be here. Jeff’s a great guy, so incredible around the place, incredible around the group, especially if you’re in a relegation battle when you need to get in the trenches. And me, Jeff, the club, have been fully focused on that up until this moment. I think you’ve seen in Jeff’s performances that there was just no doubt that he was fully committed to the cause. Now that the relegation stuff is all but beyond us, then hopefully we can start to put something in place where he stays, but no confirmation either way.”
Whilst the Daily Echo understands that there are numerous European clubs that have made proposals to the midfielder, no agreement has been reached with any side.
