AFC Bournemouth has signed 21-year-old goalkeeper Alex Paulsen from Australian A-League outfit Wellington Phoenix.
Born in Auckland, Paulsen has been capped by New Zealand at under-17 and under-23 level and is expected to feature for his country in the summer Olympic Games in Paris.
He won a host of awards following Phoenix’s record-breaking 2023/24 campaign and was named in the A-League All Stars men’s team.
On joining the Cherries, Paulsen said: “I’m humbled to be considered worthy of signing with AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League.
“It means the world to me, my family and to my friends to be offered an opportunity to play in the best league on the planet, which most aspiring young footballers only dream of.”
AFC Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake said: “We’re very pleased to secure Alex’s services. He’s an exciting prospect with so much potential, and his development has been clear for all to see during an excellent season in the A-League.
“We look forward to welcoming Alex to Bournemouth in early July, where we plan to introduce him to Andoni and the rest of the team before he departs for what will be a great opportunity to represent his country at the Olympics.”
Paulsen kept 12 clean sheets in 28 games in all competitions for Wellington Phoenix, helping them qualify for the A-League end-of-season play-offs.
He also kept clean sheets in Olympic qualifiers against Vanuatu and Fiji as the All Whites booked their ticket to France as the Oceania representative.
Paulsen was elevated to the first-team ranks at Wellington after being named the most valuable player while playing for the club’s reserves in the National League in 2020/21.
Striker Enes Ünal has also joined AFC Bournemouth on a permanent four-year deal.
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