Eagle-eyed Clarets fans at yesterday’s pre-season friendly against Altrincham may well have spotted a trialist goalkeeper on the bench.
He was in fact former Bournemouth keeper, Jon Stewart.
Although he did not feature in the game it would now appear that Howe is close to signing him and he may well be our first signing of the summer!
It would at least be a start although signing a third-string keeper is hardly exciting news after such a long wait for a new face to arrive at Turf Moor.
Howe though has confirmed that he is hoping to complete a deal for the 22-year-old.
‘We know John from our time at Bournemouth,’ Howe told the media after the 4-2 pre-season victory over Altrincham.
‘He hasn’t had a lot of first-team action in terms of professional games but he’s someone we really like.
‘He would come in with a view to being our number three because I think we need one.’
So what do we know about him?
Stewart started his career as a youth player with Swindon before moving to non-league Weymouth in 2006.He signed for Portsmouth in 2008 and spent two years at Fratton Park without ever making his debut. Bournemouth signed him as their third-choice keeper in 2008. Stewart finally made his Cherries and indeed Football League debut in November 2010 after coming on as a 78th minute substitute in a 2-2 away draw with Leyton Orient.
Bournemouth however terminated his contract with immediate effect in April this year for what the club described as ‘a further incident of misconduct’. Stewart was reprimanded by Cherries boss, Lee Bradbury in March for causing damage to a hotel room and being late for training.
He had made five appearances for the club, having been handed a contract in the summer of 2010 by then Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe.
So hopefully Howe knows what he is doing should he go ahead and sign someone who has clearly been a firebrand and a bit of an handful in the past!
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