Dominic Solanke has struggled to live up to the lofty expectations at Tottenham to date
Tottenham Hotspur created headlines in the summer transfer window when they smashed their transfer record to sign Dominic Solanke in a £65m deal from Bournemouth.
The Lilywhites invested big bucks in the 27-year-old in August, hoping they would finally replace Harry Kane, who left for Bayern Munich last summer. Dominic Solanke impressed last season for Bournemouth when he bagged 21 goals across all competitions, including 19 in 38 Premier League appearances.
However, the one-cap England international has endured a rocky start to life in North London and has not delivered the goods as expected. Added to that, Tottenham have started the season poorly and their 1-0 North London derby defeat to Arsenal only intensified the pressure on Ange Postecoglou.
After failing to net in the two Premier League games he’s played, Solanke fired a blank again in Spurs’ comeback 2-1 win over Coventry City in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday evening. He struggled to impose himself against the Championship and was substituted in the 62nd minute.
The one-cap England international will already be feeling the pressure and heat because of the hefty price tag. Truth be told, the 2023/24 season’s tally of 21 goals remains his best top-flight return thus far. So, there may be second thoughts within the Spurs fan base that last season was just a unique one for Solanke, who only managed 10 goals in his previous 96 Premier League appearances for Liverpool and Bournemouth combined before his 2023/24 exploits.
Former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor feels Solanke is struggling with the weight of expectations in a Spurs shirt and must get back to basics to regain his mojo in front of goal.
“You know with Solanke, Solanke has just got to like, have a chat with the manager and just calm down,” Gabby Agbonlahor said to Alan Brazil on talkSPORT Breakfast.
“He looks like he’s… the shirt’s too big for him at the moment.
“Just remember what you did last season for Bournemouth, you were outstanding, think about the things you were doing last season.
“Holding the ball up, making runs, being strong, being aggressive, getting in the box because, he doesn’t want to be that player that you go two or three games without scoring.
“When you’re at a new club, the pressure comes on. He got brought off last night again, perfect game at the weekend for him against Brentford at home to hopefully get off the mark.”
Solanke finally showed at Bournemouth last season that he can score all kinds of goals, but Spurs are levels above the Cherries and he is supposedly feeling the pressure of leading the attack. That being said, however, the £90,000-per-week striker has been harshly judged by certain sections of our fanbase and media after only being 242 minutes into his White Hart Lane career.
At the end of the day, Solanke is a striker and he is going to be judged by his goals. That being said, the pressure is already beginning to mount on our record signing and he will be desperate to get the monkey off his back in Tottenham’s next league game against Brentford.
