Eddie Howe has admitted that he is already planning for next season as he attempts to freshen up his Bournemouth side for their third campaign of Premier League football.

The Cherries are as good as safe in the top flight, sitting 10th in the table and nine points above the relegation zone with just three games left to play.

Howe was unable to bolster his squad in January, instead losing Nathan Ake to Chelsea in the only major piece of activity, but he intends to tweak things slightly in the summer with the addition of a few new faces.

"It would be foolish of me and the recruitment team not to be looking at next season. We are planning and preparing and doing a lot of work," he told the Bournemouth Echo.

"I always believe that in every window you should try to refresh the squad in some way. January was very quiet for us with more outs than ins, so we would like to do something in the summer and try to find a new way to take the team on.

"You don't want to make too many changes where you lose your identity and I don't think we have ever done that. I think we have remained very loyal to the core of the squad which has done very well for us.

"But, hopefully, we can add a few players who can make a difference. There will not be wholesale changes, I don't believe we need that. We just need, if we can, to find something which can make us better."

Bournemouth have recently been linked with making moves for Chelsea legend John Terry and Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe.