Bournemouth news: Siriki Dembele 'happy and grateful' after making unexpected Premier League debut
Siriki Dembele
Siriki Dembele was pleasantly surprised to make his Premier League debut from the bench during Bournemouth's 1-0 defeat to Southampton last week.
The 26-year-old Ivorian signed for the Cherries from Peterborough in January this year, and played his first seven minutes of Premier League football at Vitality Stadium on 19 October after replacing Ryan Fredericks.
It's been a long road to the top flight for Dembele. He has now played in all four levels of professional football in England, after starting out with Grimsby Town in League Two.
"If I'm completely honest, I wasn't expecting it, so I didn't have my mind on it so much but when I got the call, I was just buzzing," Dembele told Cherries' website.
"My family were really happy, the Premier League at the end of the day is the Premier League and coming all the way from League Two to the Prem is a great feeling, they were really happy.
"It's been a fantastic journey, it's taken a while but it's happened now and I'm just so happy and grateful.
"When I was a kid, it was always my dream to play in the Premier League, especially watching the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo when he was at (Manchester) United before.
"Watching all the big players in the Premier League as a kid, it's all you look at so to finally play in it is a dream come true really.
"I've probably modelled my game more on Neymar and Lionel Messi but back when Ronaldo was at United the first time, he was just unbelievable. He's one of the greatest players to play the game.
"I've come a long way and I've gotten this far; I've got no intention of stopping here and I'm just going to keep going."
