On 23 November 2006 Arsenal announced he was going on loan to Bournemouth until 2 January 2007. In total he played seven games for Bournemouth (five in League One and two in the FA Cup), and scored his first goal at senior level in a 2–0 win over Nottingham Forest, on 5 December 2006. He returned to Arsenal as scheduled at the start of January 2007, and came on as a substitute for Armand Traoré against Liverpool in the League Cup Quarter-finals on 9 January.