2009/10 to 2017/18

AFC Bournemouth spent three of the nine seasons from 2009/10 to 2017/18 in the Premier League and two in the Championship, with four lower down. Their best finish was 9th, in 2016/17. They didn’t win a major trophy. Over those nine summers they paid £88.3m in transfer fees and took in £23.6m, a net spend of £64.7m.

No club on this site travelled further than AFC Bournemouth. They spent the first four seasons of the period outside the top two divisions, reached the Championship for 2013/14 and finished tenth, then won the title outright in 2014/15 with 90 points. Eddie Howe's side kept their heads in the Premier League, finishing 16th, ninth and 12th.

The spending grew with the status. Tyrone Mings cost around £8m in 2015, Jordon Ibe £15m a year later and Nathan Aké £20m from Chelsea in 2017. Danny Ings, sold to Burnley for about £1m back in 2011, is the one that got away.

Bournemouth's real story already reads like a fantasy, which makes the 115.football version a curious one. Starting in 2009 with £900m, the aim is to arrive in the top flight years earlier, keep Ings, and do more than survive once you get there.