Premier League bound Paulsen: “There’s a plan put in place. I’m very excited”

New Zealand goalkeeper Alex Paulsen reveals Premier League side Bournemouth’s plan for him when he moves to England.

The 21-year-old shot stopper got his big move to the Premier League side from the south of England following his stellar season with Wellington Phoenix in the A-League.

He tells Football in Oceania he first heard of the interest from the Andoni Iraola-managed side, who finished 12^th in the Premier League, in the latter stages of last season.

 “It was during the back end of the season, , so it was one of those things where my agent just updated me on the notice from Bournemouth, them being interested in me, and then we kind of just went from there,” Paulsen explains.

Then it was “a bit of a process” to land everything, before all parties were happy with everything and Paulsen could put his name on a four-year deal.

“I was very grateful, actually, and I’m blessed to be given that opportunity to even be looked at by a club in arguably one of the best leagues in the world, so it was just very, very surreal, and it was just an amazing experience to get looked at by Bournemouth.”

But he admits having a bit of a “pit in the stomach” ahead of the move around the globe.

“It’s a bit of anxiety as well, to be fair, because I’ve never been to England before, so it’ll be foreign territory for me. But I’m looking forward to it, I’m excited, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Paulsen says he hasn’t been over to England to look at the place yet, but he hopes that can be done after the Nations Cup and before going to the Olympics in Paris.

And he can shed some light on what the Premier League side has in store for him.

“We’ve got an action plan, so there’s a plan put in place. It’s going to look likely to go out on loan, but, yeah, you never know what’s going to happen, so it’s going to be a lot of work.”

“It’s going to be interesting. I’m very, very excited and just grateful to even be considered to be a part of the team and looking forward to joining up with the team as well,” Paulsen says.

But before jetting off to the Premier League and the Olympics, there’s the matter of the OFC Nations Cup to wrap up for Paulsen and New Zealand. Next up for the All Whites are Tahiti in the semifinal.

“It’s going to be a good challenge against them. They’ve come up with a couple of good results, so, yeah, just looking forward to the game,” Alex Paulsen says.

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