Last season proved to be a long-awaited coming-of-age campaign for Dominic Solanke. Billed as a star of the future when progressing through the academy ranks at Chelsea, Solanke’s senior career had ultimately underwhelmed before last summer.
Having failed to make a breakthrough at Chelsea, he tried and failed to make an impression at Liverpool, before Bournemouth signed the striker in a £19m deal.
It was a significant sum for the Cherries and one which just 12 months ago still appeared overpriced. Solanke’s first 42 games in the top-flight for the club returned just three goals and a relegation before 44 goals in 86 second-tier appearances helped Bournemouth back into the big time.
However, he netted just six times in the Premier League in 2022-23. It was a campaign that added weight to the narrative that Solanke could not quite turn his talent into the currency that matters above all in the Premier League – goals.
Then it clicked.
Bournemouth’s appointment of Andoni Iraola was bold given Gary O’Neil’s achievement in securing top-flight status for another season but the Spaniard’s arrival was a worthwhile gamble. After a slow start, Bournemouth earned a club-record Premier League points total and it was Solanke who led their charge.
The 26-year-old scored 19 league goals in 38 league appearances, the one-in-two gold standard that is often the aim for Premier League forwards. Having scored just ten times in his first 96 top-flight appearances, Solanke almost tripled that return in a single season.
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????… pic.twitter.com/ETV0tcuRg2— DataMB (@DataMB_) August 5, 2024
His performances meant Solanke was an unfortunate omission from the England squads for March’s internationals and Euro 2024, as Gareth Southgate opted for experience so close to a major tournament. If he can maintain those levels in 2024/25, however, inclusion should be a formality.
As ever, form – and particularly goals – bring inevitable transfer interest. Spurs are reportedly interested in signing Solanke, who has a release clause of £65m. The North Londoners failed to sign a direct replacement for Harry Kane last summer but have made Solanke their leading target to succeed Kane 12 months on from his exit for Bayern Munich.
Replacing the club’s record goalscorer with a forward with only one season of top-level productivity appears a risk but Solanke appears an ideal stylistic fit. Ange Postecoglou’s sides are notorious for their high-octane style, with an emphasis on aggressive pressure in the final third.
Last season, Solanke led the line superbly for Bournemouth in a similar style, leading all Premier League forwards for pressures. His excellence in cutting passing lanes and work rate set the tone for Bournemouth, unnerving opposition defenders and serving as the trigger for teammates to follow.
“Pressing has always been part of my game. I work hard and I like to press,” Solanke told The Athletic in February.
“We have always been a pressing team for as long as I’ve been here. (Under Iraola) it’s very detailed. He loves his detail.
“When we win the ball back, we like to play fast in transition. I’m obviously the highest up the pitch, so that was always going to benefit me. It’s happened a few times this season where we’ve won the ball back high up the pitch and it has resulted in me getting goals.”
Goals, having been such a scarce commodity previously, were plentiful last season. Solanke managed just one in his first 59 top-flight games but never lost confidence in his ability
“I’m quite strong mentally. I always believed that it would happen for me,” he added.
10 – Dominic Solanke v Nottingham Forest is only the 10th time in Premier League history a player has completed a hat-trick with a 90th-minute winner, and first since Diogo Jota for Wolves v Leicester in January 2019. Magic. pic.twitter.com/UhkkITFxcS
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 23, 2023
“Obviously, at the time, it’s difficult because when it’s not happening for you, you start thinking, ‘When is it going to happen?’. But I always believed I would score goals. I scored throughout my whole youth career. I knew I could score goals. I knew it was going to come at some point.”
Spurs now see Solanke as a solution. A forward focal point that doubles up as a facilitator to the grander picture. His all-round game has long been appreciated and Postecoglou will no doubt have visualised how his industry and intricacy can benefit a supporting cast that includes Son Heung-min and James Maddison.
For so long, Kane was the star for Spurs. Postecoglou plans to oversee a shift, where it is the system that is the star. Few forwards on the market right now look better suited to the intense off-the-ball demands of the Australian. Solanke, matured and improved, looks ready for the step back up to a European side.
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