REPORT: Bournemouth agree to sell Dominic Solanke to Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur have left things late, but now appear to be moving at record pace.

Duncan Castles of the Sunday Times broke the news, before it was picked up by David Ornstein at The Athletic: AFC Bournemouth have in principle agreed to sell striker Dominic Solanke to Spurs:

The final details are still being fleshed out, but the fee will be a record sale for Bournemouth (who also have to pay a 20% sell-on fee to Liverpool) and likely close to Solanke’s release reported release clause of £65 million. Personal terms have reportedly also been agreed, with Solanke excited to join The Lilywhites.

The final pieces still under discussion are likely things like breakdown of payments, whether any of that clause can be covered by performance escalators, and all sorts of other financial wheelings and dealings in order to make this the best possible deal for both clubs.

Well, the best possible deal for Spurs, anyway.

The masthead are a bit split on this one; but if we’re keeping Richarlison (which by all accounts we are) we now have a great one-two punch at striker in what was previously a position of weakness for Spurs. Solanke’s excellent pressing, hold-up ability, and instinctive positioning at the least make him an intriguing, if not elite, option to lead the line. It’s a bit concerning that we may now have two ~27-year-olds at the same position who will quite possibly have little resale value in a couple of years, but hey – maybe Will Lankshear makes the leap and we don’t even care.

As I wrote yesterday, this does cause a bit of complexity in terms of our Europa League squad registration if we want to sign anyone else, but hey – is Fraser Forster really going to need to play in Europe (he says while crossing his fingers, touching wood, and throwing salt over his shoulder)?

We’ll keep you posted. Don’t move, anyone!