Dominic Solanke is through the doors at Tottenham Hotspur and his signing has got a lot of people talking.
The 26-year-old started his career at Chelsea, where he failed to break through, before his struggles under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
That road eventually led him to Bournemouth, and after further years of struggle, he finally started to deliver for them in the Championship, helping them earn promotion and last season scoring 19 goals in the Premier League.
Tottenham then paid a club-record transfer for Solanke, with Ange Postecoglou pretty happy with the deal that they have concluded for the player.
It has been suggested that Spurs have paid Bournemouth £65 million for Solanke’s talents (BBC Sport) – a contract until 2030 – with £10 million of those in add-ons.
Michael Owen shared his thoughts on this deal and how he first thought ‘I like that’ when he heard about Solanke heading to Hotspur Way.
Solanke made his Tottenham debut at Leicester on Monday night, but he couldn’t score in his first outing, with the team dropping points and recording a 1-1 draw.
But Owen admitted to having second thoughts about Solanke’s transfer once he saw the fee Spurs had paid for the player.
The former England striker thinks Solanke is probably worth ‘£30-35 million’ and the money the London club have put down for his talents is ‘chunky’, as he told Premier League Productions (19/08/24 at 7:10 pm).
Dominic Solanke’s transfer fee
“It’s promising, it’s exciting,” said Owen. “Last season was a very good one for him. He’s got attributes we feel that would suit Spurs.
“When I first heard Solanke to Spurs. I thought ‘yeah, I like that. I see that’, but then I heard about the fee and I thought ‘oh, that’s chunky. I thought that’s quite heavy’. I thought he might be a £30-35 million player.
“But hey, if they wanted, were desperate for him and they needed someone in that position. He is proven in the Premier League. Proven to score goals. He works hard off the ball. There are a lot of boxes that he is ticking. He’s not an unknown signing. A risky signing. So, I do like the signing, I just thought it was a little bit pricey.”
James Maddison’s link-up with Dominic Solanke
When Maddison joined Spurs last summer, he would have been disappointed to see Harry Kane head for the exit door and join Bayern Munich.
Despite the England captain leaving, the playmaker still enjoyed a very strong start to life at his new club, before injury hit and his form dropped.
READ MORE: 50 MOST LIKELY PREMIER LEAGUE, EFL AND EUROPEAN SUMMER 2024 FOOTBALL TRANSFERS
Maddison has been told that it’s an ‘absolute dream’ for him to be playing with Solanke and you feel a serious partnership could be built here.
The English playmaker needs that consistency throughout the season and Solanke needs a strong start and they can help each other on that front.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
