Iraola

NEXT season could be Adam Smith’s final season in football, after the right back extended his deal to stay with the Cherries for the 2026/27 campaign.

Smith signed a new deal to prolong his stay at the club for another year, as he continues to rack up appearances for Bournemouth as now the sixth-highest appearance-maker in club history.

His association with the club goes back to 2010/11 when he came on loan from Spurs, before he then joined again on a permanent move in January 2014.

Cherries stadium plans receive support from public - but neighbour objections remain

'It is a dream I'm living in' - Hill cherishing moments at heart of Cherries defence

Midfield battle giving Iraola 'good problem' - but Christie loving 'tough' contest

Cherries' strategy pays off as investment passes €450m - now aims to be 'net seller'

Cherries aiming at two wins to enter international break in top ten and Europe fight

But next term could be his last, he told fellow club legend Steve Fletcher in an interview for the club’s YouTube channel.

“Next season, I don't want to say it, but it could be my last season because that will take me to 36,” he said.

“And do I want to drop down and play in the Championship? No, I don't think I do, but I might.

Adam Smith (Image: Richard Crease)

“It depends on how my body feels, how my mind feels. I obviously don't see my family much because they live back where I'm from in London.

“So yeah, it's how long I want to keep on doing it.”

Smith has done a diploma and has done his coaching badges, and holds an interest in the recruitment side of the game as potential options for once he hangs his boots up.

The right back was candid in saying how tough it was to leave his children at home in London when he comes back down to Bournemouth after time off, but he knows he is doing it for their future, too.

“My motivation, honestly, is to keep on proving to myself that I can still play at this level,” he said.

“And everyone always questions you, like, oh, he's 34, like, can he keep doing it, and I like to prove them people wrong, but I also like to show that, my son's 7, he loves football, so I want to show him what it's like to reach the top and stay at the top.

Adam Smith (Image: Peter Tarry/PA Wire)

“So I think that will help him if he wants to be a footballer, he wants to take it serious, this is what you have to do to get to this level.

“So that is my main motivation, to be honest with you.”

Smith said the arrival of Andoni Iraola at AFC Bournemouth had revitalised him at that stage of his career.

“I think when he came in, when I was 30, 31, and when you get to that age you do get a bit stale, you just feel, I need something else to motivate me,” he said.

“The way he sees football is the way I see football.

“I don't agree with all this tiki-taka, playing out from the back and not wanting to go long, and when we used to play like the Citys and the Arsenals, we used to change how we play and we used to go like, "let's go five at the back and sit off them."

“I felt like you just show these teams [too much respect].

“But no player wants to do that. You want to go out on the pitch and you just want to go, "Well, let's just have a go."

Liverpool's Milos Kerkez challenges Bournemouth's Adam Smith (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

“And that's his mentality and that energised me.”

Smith said it was not just him that was motivated by Iraola and his style of football, leading to a mentality that the team can beat anyone in the league.

“Now every game we believe we can actually beat anyone, even if we're 2-0 down,” he said.

“That's why you see so many late goals in this team, because it's the mentality that he's put in us is we just will never ever stop, and we don't stop.

“That really energised me at a stage in my career that I was bit bored, you know.”

He added: “It's really helped me and he's played me a lot.”