Enes Ünal Rejoins Getafe After Bournemouth Spell

Enes Ünal has ended his spell at Bournemouth and returned to familiar ground, rejoining Getafe on a free transfer.

The Turkey international, 29, leaves the south coast with Bournemouth still financially involved in his future. The Cherries could bank up to £1.3m in bonuses from the deal, as well as 20% of any future sale by the Spanish club.

Ünal’s time in England never really caught fire. Injuries disrupted his rhythm and limited his impact, and he finishes with 58 appearances and five goals in all competitions for Bournemouth. For a forward brought in with high expectations and a sizeable fee, it always felt like he was playing catch-up.

He first arrived at Vitality Stadium on loan from Getafe in January 2024, a mid-season gamble as Bournemouth looked to add depth and presence up front. The move became permanent later that year for around £13m, a statement of faith in his ability to adapt to the Premier League.

The body never quite cooperated. Spells on the sidelines blunted his sharpness and stalled any momentum he tried to build. Inside the club, though, his influence clearly went beyond the scoresheet.

“A popular figure within the squad, Ünal leaves having made a positive contribution both on and off the pitch during his time with the Cherries,” read a Bournemouth statement, which also thanked him for his efforts and wished him success back in Spain.

For Bournemouth, this is also a strategic move. Trimming the wage bill has been a clear theme of their summer, and Ünal’s departure frees up room as they near the end of their transfer business. The club are now working on a deal that would see full-back Max Aarons leave, another sign of a squad being reshaped with one eye firmly on the balance sheet and the other on the next phase of Andoni Iraola’s project.

Ünal, meanwhile, heads back to Getafe, to a league and a club where he has already proved he can be a leading figure. The question now is simple: can a return to old surroundings revive the goalscorer Bournemouth thought they were getting?