Thursday 29 June 2017 21:24, UK
Seventeen years after joining Bournemouth on loan, Jermain Defoe is back on the south coast - but what has changed in that time?
In October 2000, an 18-year-old Defoe signed for Division Two outfit Bournemouth on loan from West Ham.
Fast forward to June 2017 and we find that a 34-year-old Defoe has penned a three-year deal with Bournemouth, who are now a Premier League club under the tutelage of Eddie Howe.
Bournemouth's meteoric rise up the footballing ranks has been well documented, but how does the club compare now to what it did in 2000? And how has Defoe's reputation changed in those 17 years?
We take a trip down memory lane to look at the transformations…
Then: 18-year-old West Ham academy graduate
Now: 158 Premier League goals, 57 England caps
Defoe began his youth career at Charlton before Harry Redknapp sought to bring the striker over to West Ham as a 16-year-old. After making his senior debut in 2000, Defoe headed to Bournemouth in search of more first-team experience.
It began well, to put it lightly. A debut goal against Stoke in October 2000 was just the beginning, as Defoe went on to score in each of his first 10 games for Bournemouth, setting a post-war record in the process. In total, he found the net 18 times in 29 league games that season.
The season at Bournemouth laid out the blueprint for the Defoe we know now - a clinical striker who looks to shoot whenever in range. It's the reason why he now has 158 Premier League goals to his name and 57 England caps to boot.
He'll look to increase both of those numbers in the coming season, having returned to the national side after a four-year absence back in March.
Then: The player
Now: The manager
Having started his professional career at the club, Howe went on to make more than 200 appearances for Bournemouth.
By the time Defoe arrived in 2000, Howe was an established first-team player, and he was in the starting XI for the loanee's debut against Stoke.
Now in his second stint as Bournemouth boss, 39-year-old Howe is set to coach 34-year-old Defoe.
And Howe will not be the only familiar face for Defoe, as Carl Fletcher, Steve Fletcher, Richard Hughes, Stephen Purches, Gareth Stewart and Jason Tindall - who all started in his debut game - are part of Howe's current backroom staff.
Then: "He's a kid with a big future."
Now: "He is a fantastic pro and a great lad."
After Defoe scored in his tenth consecutive game for Bournemouth, then-West Ham manager Redknapp knew he had a star in the making.
"He's done great. I sent him out to Bournemouth to get some experience playing league football and he's coped marvellously," Redknapp said back in January 2001.
"He's a kid with a big future. Hopefully, he'll come back to West Ham and establish himself in our first team."
"To score 10 goals in 10 games is a terrific achievement. He's a bright lad who's full of confidence. Nothing knocks him, he's a typical goal-scorer. If he misses, he'll be there the next time looking for a goal.
"He's a kid with a big future. Hopefully, he'll come back to West Ham and establish himself in our first team."
Redknapp - who also signed Defoe when Portsmouth and Tottenham manager - spoke to the Bournemouth Echo earlier this year regarding the striker's mooted move to the Cherries.
"Jermain would definitely bring goals to the team. He is a fantastic pro and a great lad. He looks after himself, he is an excellent trainer and he would be a great example to everybody around the club.
"He is as fit as a fiddle. He is not a drinker and is in great shape so age is not an issue."
Then: 16th in Division Two (1999/2000)
Now: 9th in the Premier League (2016/17)
Bournemouth finished a lowly 16th in the third tier of English football the season before Defoe joined on loan - placing them 40th when combining all tables.
Defoe inspired the Cherries to a seventh-placed finish in 2000/01, and though they suffered relegation a year after, a quick climb up the footballing ladder saw them finish ninth in 2016/17, in just their second season of top-tier football.
"It's a fantastic achievement and a fantastic day for the club," Howe said after their final match of the 2016/17 season.
"When you consider our recent history and where we have come from, I don't think it should be underestimated - the achievement by this group of players."
Then: 4,917
Now: 11,182
Defoe arrived at Dean Court (the stadium now known as the Vitality Stadium) to a Division Two (the league now known as League One) side who were drawing in average crowds just shy of 5,000.
In a bid to drum up money for a new stadium, the club sold "Who let Defoe out?" t-shirts, with the striker becoming somewhat of a cult hero on the south coast after his early goalscoring feats.
Dean Court was then completely renovated in 2001, and its capacity now stands at 11,464. Plans are afoot to build a new stadium, with the ground currently the smallest of any Premier League team.
Then: £210,000 on Gavin Peacock, 1989
Now: £15m on Jordon Ibe, 2016
Remarkably, Bournemouth's club-record purchase up until 2011 was the £210,000 they spent on Gavin Peacock in 1989.
When Maxim Demin became 50 per cent stakeholder in November 2011, the record was smashed in the first January window when the Cherries spent £800,000 on striker Matt Tubbs from Crawley.
Benik Afobe became the club's first £10m player after they won promotion to the Premier League, while their record is currently the £15m spent on Jordon Ibe last summer. Reports suggest that could be broken soon, with the Cherries close to signing Chelsea defender Nathan Ake, who is expected to cost at least £20m.
