ANDONI Iraola said Max Aarons returned for pre-season “ready to challenge”, amid speculation over his future.

Aarons joined Cherries from Norwich City for an initial £7million last summer and made a good early impression.

But two hamstring injuries hampered his progress and the 24-year-old was unable to wrestle the right-back spot away from Adam Smith.

Aarons made 23 appearances last season, only 13 of those as a Premier League starter.

Clubs have this summer been linked with interest in Aarons. Italian side Roma were reportedly interested, by newly-promoted Premier League outfit Southampton saw a £5million rejected by Cherries.

This week saw the arrival of fellow right-back Julian Araujo from Barcelona.

With Smith also still at the club, it brings further into question whether Aarons’s future lies away from Vitality Stadium.

Reflecting on the defender’s debut campaign at Cherries and asked about the summer transfer speculation, head coach Andoni Iraola said, prior to Araujo’s signing being confirmed: “For me, I would say that it was very affected by the injuries.

“He didn’t have a lot of injuries, he had two muscle injuries, but the recovery was very, very long for both.

“In the end, he missed nearly half the season.

“I think he started very well, but then he had these two injuries and also Adam Smith’s performances. I think Adam in the past season performed amazingly, so it was not easy, even when he recovered at the end, to regain his position.

“But he has come in and done a complete pre-season. Now he is fully fit and ready to challenge, like the others.”

Asked if full-back was an area the club went into the summer transfer market specifically targeting, Iraola added: “We are not focusing especially on one area.

“Our main need after Lloyd Kelly left was a centre-back.

“We have Dean (Huijsen) and now we are more open-minded or just looking at the chances overall, the things we can do to try to improve the team.”