Tottenham, Bournemouth reach full agreement for Solanke sale

Guess I better learn what a “naruto” is, because it’s all done except for the announcement. According to David Ornstein, Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth have reached full agreement for the transfer of Dominic Solanke, who is now set to undergo a medical ahead of competing his move.

The big thing that leaps out at me is the SIX YEAR CONTRACT which will keep him at Spurs until he’s 33 (Solanke turns 27 in September). That’s much longer than I had anticipated. The fee is also substantial — at face value, Dominic Solanke at £65m is now Tottenham Hotspur’s record signing, eclipsing the £55m Spurs spent for Tanguy Ndombele in 2019. There are suggestions however that there are a few escalators in the contract that might not take the final fee up that high, though Bournemouth are said to have demanded £30m up front.

It’s awesome to have a new striker, even if it’s basically Richarlison-but-not-broken. It’s a lot of money, for sure, and if you’re feeling a little uneasy about the size of the bet required to land a player like Solanke, well you’re not alone! But as we’ve said there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic that Solanke is exactly the kind of player Ange Postecoglou needs — and wants — to further unlock his tactics. And having two players in Richarlison and Solanke that can split time and move in and out of the side based on fitness and opposition is, well, frankly a rather nice problem to have.

Richarlison has performed admirably for Spurs over the past couple of seasons, but his biggest issue has been his availability. In Solanke, Spurs will be signing a similar player but without the history of injury, which will give Richy a chance to fully recover and work his way back into the side. It’s an expensive transfer, but it could end up being a very impactful move when all’s said and done.

We await the full confirmation from the club.