Going into the season, Tottenham had quite a challenge up front in finding a goal-scoring striker.
After links with multiple players, they finally ended up breaking the bank for Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke in a record deal.
However, if Graeme Souness is to be believed, they’re taking a huge risk.
Banking hopes on Dominic Solanke a risk, believes Graeme Souness
Souness believes Spurs have paid way too much for a player who doesn’t have enough of a track record to warrant it.
In a recent talkSPORT appearance, the former Sky Sports pundit had this to say:
“Hell of a lot money for him, I think. £65 million? He has played, I think, 112 games and has got 28 goals. Was it 19 last year? He is not consistently scoring goals in the Premier League. I think it’s a bit of a gamble.”
At 26, Solanke has had quite a “return to top” career thus far, having started out as a highly-rated Chelsea academy graduate, moved to Liverpool early in his career only to move to the Cherries as that move didn’t work out.
Last season was the first time Solanke came close to hitting the 19-goal mark in the Premier League, scoring 21 goals last season and providing 4 more assists in 42 appearances across competitions.
The one-cap England international is expected to lead Spurs’ line on Monday as they kick off their 2024/25 campaign in the Premier League against the newly-promoted Leicester City.
It is a risk…
It is usually easy to ignore Souness’ comments these days, but it’s hard to argue with his logic on this one. Solanke is relatively unproven and now has further pressure on him owing to the transfer fee.
We all know what happened to Spurs’ last record signing.
That said, Solanke fits the bill for the kind of central striker Ange Postecoglou fancies, and while it is true that a lot will be asked of him in terms of goals, the link-up play he offers also needs to be kept in mind.
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It is definitely a risk, but a move that on paper at least is a good one.
