Max Aarons on how Andoni Iraola has improved him since Norwich move

But that is exactly the situation Max Aarons found himself in last summer.

Despite being one of Norwich’s key men for a number of seasons, racking up over 200 appearances, the club knew it was time to let him go.

Aarons, now 24, had been regularly linked with a move away for many years, Barcelona’s approach in 2020 the most high profile.

But the full-back stuck with the Norfolk club, playing his part in two Championship title-winning campaigns and featuring regularly during their spells in the Premier League.

After finishing 13th in the second tier last season, where Aarons missed just one league game, Norwich felt it was time to let him go, despite him being under contract for another year.

Canaries sporting director Stuart Webber said: “I think he’s outgrown the club. I think he’s ready to go and he needs a new stimulus now.”

Aarons shared that belief and, after helping England win the European Under-21 Championship, he looked set to join recently-relegated Leeds United, managed by his old boss Daniel Farke.

That was until Cherries swooped, snatching Aarons in a £7million deal, which could rise to £12m in add-ons.

From being set to put pen-to-paper on a contract at Leeds, Aarons was a Cherry and two days later was in their starting line-up on the opening day of the Premier League season.

Aarons slotted in seamlessly, instantly impressing and nailing down the right-back berth, until a hamstring injury cut short his progress in November.

But the Luton-raised ace is now fit again, and, after getting some minutes under his belt in the two games prior to the winter break, feels ready to get back to his best.

• Smith: Life under Iraola ‘totally different’ to what we’ve had here before

“I think it actually is good timing in a way, because with the injury I had, with it being a muscle injury, my hamstring, the more time that you can give it to heal and to recover, the better,” Aarons explained, when asked by the Daily Echo if the break came at the wrong time just as he worked his way back to fitness.

“I managed to play 45 against Tottenham and then I needed the 90 minutes against QPR as well.

“Obviously with me being out for eight weeks before that, my body then took a lot of time to recover after the QPR game, for the first 90 that I had back.

“So it was really good for me to get that in before the break and then have a little bit of rest.

“Especially training this week, I felt for the first time now back to a complete 100 per cent. So that extra week has given me a good base now to push on.”

Asked if he had some rust to get rid of in his first games back, Aarons said: “Yes, definitely.

“The form I was in before my injury, that’s the level I want to return to.

“I think with me having been out for seven or eight weeks, it’s always going to take one or two games to fully get back into that rhythm.

“It was really good to get that 45 against Tottenham and then the 90 minutes in the cup. Now I can really be back to my 100 per cent, my full level.”

In an article with The Athletic in 2021, Aarons said: “Football for me has been like therapy. When something is on your mind, going out and playing feels really good.”

With that in mind, how tough did he find his recent period out injured?

“It’s my first spell on the sidelines for anything longer than one or two weeks with anything,” Aarons explained.

“So that was definitely hard for me to take. But it’s about how you deal with that and react.

“It’s a cliché, but coming back stronger. I believe I worked really hard over the time I was out, as did the medical staff as well. I’ve come back, feel in great shape and feel really good.

“You can tick all the boxes in training, but then it’s just about getting those match minutes in.

“That’s what I did do before we had this little break that’s just happened.

“Now I feel back to 100 per cent and match fit now to perform at the level I did pre-injury.”

Aarons certainly was performing to a high level prior to his injury.

Less than six months have passed since the defender joined from Norwich.

But he insists he can already feel the impact boss Andoni Iraola has had on him, believing he has improved as a player.

“Massively. The way he wants the full-backs to defend, tactically, the information that he gives, I think there’s absolute clarity in what he wants from me as a player and full-backs in general,” said Aarons.

“I know, for every scenario on the pitch, how he’d want me to defend or how he’d want me to attack.

“He’s always giving that information really, really clearly to be able to do that.

“I think the player that I am now compared to even last season when I was at Norwich is a completely different player.

“Just tactically and having Andoni and how he sets us up is really, really big for me as a full-back, to know exactly what I’m doing.

“I can definitely feel physically, mentally, tactically and technically a much better player as well.”

Cherries return to action on Sunday, hosting Liverpool (4.30pm).