Harry Redknapp has cautioned Eddie Howe
against swapping Bournemouth for Arsenal if Arsene Wenger ends his
21-year reign at the Gunners this summer.
Howe,
who guided Bournemouth from League Two up to the Premier League, is
second favourite with some bookmakers to replace Wenger at the
Emirates
Stadium.
But Redknapp, a former Cherries manager himself, believes it would be a giant leap too soon for 39-year-old Howe.
He said: 'It's not the time. I can't see
him going to Arsenal at this stage of his career. It would be too quick
and too big a step.
'He is doing fantastic at Bournemouth, he's getting better and his work here has been top class.
'Arsenal is an entirely different game when you're dealing with massive players earning massive wages with massive egos.
'What he has here [at Bournemouth] is a great group of lads here who have come from league clubs and who have been fantastic.
'Suddenly,
you'd be going to Arsenal and dealing with big egos and it's a
completely different game. They all look at you a little bit
differently.
'I'm not saying that Eddie
won't end up at somewhere like Arsenal one day - there's every chance
he will - but at this time of his career, it wouldn't be the right move
for him.'
Two of Redknapp's old clubs - Southampton
and Bournemouth - meet in a south coast derby at St Mary's on Saturday
evening and he has been impressed with both club's seasons.
The
Cherries have pulled clear of relegation danger with victories over
Swansea City and West Ham, plus a 1-1 draw with only 10-men at
Manchester United.
It was enough for
Howe to be awarded the Premier League manager of the month for the first
time in his career as they pulled nine points clear of the drop zone.
BT
Sport pundit Redknapp said: 'I never had any doubts that they'd pull
clear. I said all along that I thought they'd finish about half-way
somewhere.
'Bournemouth could give anyone a game I think, they are excellent and they have got some good players.'
One player who has excelled in
Bournemouth's push towards safety is striker Josh King, who has found
the net nine times since December 31.
'King
has come in and been brilliant,' said Redknapp. 'He has pace, he runs
at people. I watched him a lot this season and against teams like
Liverpool, he gave them all kind of problems, a real handful.
'He
can only get better and he has a big future. I can see Bournemouth
having problems holding on to him in the long-term, I can see clubs
coming in for him.'
The future of Jack
Wilshere, who has enjoyed more regular game time at the Vitality Stadium
this season while on loan from Arsenal, is less clear, but Redknapp
predicts his best days could be to come.
He
said: 'Jack was in good form for Bournemouth, he worked hard and had a
great attitude. Then he picked up an injury, didn't play and now
suddenly it's been difficult for him to break back into the team.
I'm not sure why he's not
in Arsenal's team, he could walk into Arsenal's team. I think he'll
either go back to Arsenal or there's another big club out there for
him.'
Bournemouth are currently locked on 33 points with their local rivals, who are a place above them with two games in hand.
Southampton
look on course for a top-half finish under Claude Puel and also reached
the final of the EFL Cup, where they lost 3-2 to Manchester United.
Redknapp
said: 'Their recruitment has been good, they produce young players
every year, the club's in good shape and that is the key to it.
'They
have always had kids coming through the youth policy, they work very
hard on that system and they are one of the few clubs now that have a
conveyor belt for producing kids.
'They really put time and effort and money into their academy and it pays dividends.
'With
Jack Stephens and James Ward-Prowse, they keep getting kids every other
year that come into the team and it is fantastic they can do that.'
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