Dominic Solanke to Tottenham: The Rebirth of One of England’s Finest Wonderkids
In a Champions League tie between Chelsea and NK Maribor on October 21, 2014, an academy wonderkid had just come off the bench for his first team debut for Chelsea Football Club. It was an era when Cobham had started becoming prominent for churning out some of the best potential superstars in football.
Names like Josh McEachran, Nathan Ake, and Nathaniel Chalobah amongst others were the youngsters from the Chelsea academy already showing a lot promise as potential first team players for Chelsea. Amongst all the youngsters who had passed through Cobham at the time, there was one who showed the biggest and brightest promise in the eyes of many and that was Dominic Solanke. He was literally a goal machine at youth level, shinning amongst his peers across all age groups, a total of 35 goals and six assists in 45 appearances for Chelsea’s youth teams highlighted his potential as a top marksman.
In an era when Chelsea were the team to beat in England with a reputation of always choosing to roll with the already made stars, Solanke’s decision to switch to Liverpool in 2017 seemed ideal. Emerging from the academy of a club that boasted of captain, John Terry as the only success story in terms of pathway to the first team was enough reason for Solanke to want to seek a different pathway.
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As a matter of fact, amongst the three names mentioned earlier, none was able to fully establish himself as a regular starter as they all eventually left the club after series of loan spells. It was a similar path for Solanke whose only senior Chelsea appearance was his Champions League debut. He spent a season on loan at Vitesse in the Eredivise, scoring seven goals in a total of 26 appearances across all competitions in the 2015/16 season for the club.
Solanke would spend the following season at Chelsea but he never got the chance of playing first team football as he was constantly behind the red-hot Diego Costa and his trusted deputy, Michy Batshuayi in the pecking order during the Blues’ 2016/17 Premier League title winning campaign. The end of that season coincided with the expiration of Dominic Solanke’s Chelsea contract and the switch to Liverpool as a free agent was the next step of the Englishman’s career.
However, it ultimately didn’t turn out well for Solanke at Anfield as he made just a total of 27 appearances which were mostly as a substitute for the Reds in all competitions, scoring only once and also assisting once in the one and half season he spent under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp.
Dominic Solanke was permanently transferred to AFC Bournemouth in January 2019 at the age of 21 and that was the move his career needed. Despite having to wait till February 2019 to make his Bournemouth debut largely due to a groin strain he had been nursing from his time at Liverpool, playing for the Cherries in the second half of the 2018/19 season culminated in the young centre-forward playing in up to six consecutive Premier League games for the first time in his career and it could have been a lot more safe for a couple of injuries.
Matter-of-factly, of the 11 league games Solanke was fit and available to play for Bournemouth, he missed only one. Though, just two of his appearances were starts, it was a good starting point. Solanke quickly established himself as a full-time Premier League striker in the following season, making a total of 32 Premier League appearances, 17 of which were starts. Though, it was just three goals and one assist to his credit in a season when Bournemouth got relegated.
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Relegation to the Championship in 2020 proved to be another learning curve in the striker’s career as the second tier of English football has been a breeding ground for some of the Premier League’s most potent marksmen. 38 starts in a total of 40 Championship appearances that season saw a 23-year old Solanke return double digits at senior level for the first time in his career and this time it was for both goals and assists as he scored 15 and assisted 11 that season.
He was quickly becoming the main man in Bournemouth’s attack and the following season (2021/22), he would even almost double his goalscoring tally in the Championship as he registered 29 goals while also registering seven assists (36 G/A) in 46 appearances, also quite remarkable was the fact that he started all 46 games in what was Bournemouth’s promotion winning campaign. The young English striker had risen to become a talismanic figure at the vitality, for back to back seasons, he was Bournemouth’s top scorer.
Solanke was rediscovering that form and hitting those kind of figures that made him one of the most coveted English youngsters during his days of playing youth football but following Bournemouth’s promotion to the Premier League, the question that lingered was “can he do it in the top-flight?”
He was heading into the 2022/23 season off the back of a terrific campaign in the championship but it was the Premier League, the highest tier of English football, it was familiar territories, territories in which he had underwhelmed in the past, howbeit as a younger and inexperienced player, two seasons in the championship is a lot of time and a lot had of things had been improved upon, and 2022/23 was the time for Dominic Solanke to prove it.
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Solanke didn’t quite replicate his Championship form in his first season back in the top flight as he recorded just six goals and seven assists in 33 Premier League appearances but he lit up the Prem the following season making a name for himself as one of England’s goalscoring machines with 19 goals in 38 league appearances finishing just behind Erling Haaland (27), Cole Palmer (22), and Alexander Isak (21) on the scoring chart. Solanke’s form last season did put everyone on notice as to what he’s all about, hence, his £60million move to Tottenham Hotspur comes as no surprise to anyone who has been paying keen attention.
At the age of 26 which is usually the prime age for strikers, it is safe to say Solanke is now hitting the peak of his powers. Though, it has taken a while for him to fulfill his potentials, he is obviously here to stay and stake a place as one of Europe’s elite strikers. The quality is definitely there.
Standing at 6 ft 2, Dominic Solanke is naturally the ideal target man blessed with the physique to occupy even the fiercest of centre-backs and also interesting is the fact that he has got a very good level of technique as well as a good ton of pace. There are actually no manifest weaknesses to his game as a footballer as he could bring a ball down with a good first touch, dribble and also dominate markers physically.
His attributes are aptly captured by former Chelsea striker Tore Andre Flo thus: “…. works really hard, got very good physique and a great touch on the ball. He’s quick but often what impresses me the most is when he looks like he’s lost the ball, he somehow manages to get out with the ball, no matter how tight the situation is or how difficult it looks.”
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Deducing from Solanke’s attributes, he can be likened to a problem solver. The only probable question mark might be his consistency in front of goal but he has proven for at least three seasons now that he can carry the talismanic burdens of a team. He looks like the missing piece that pushes Ange Postecoglou’s side to the next level in challenging for silverware. And obviously, playing alongside very talented players like James Madison, Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-Min Son in a more attacking side like Postecoglou’s Tottenham will possibly see Solanke’s attacking numbers go even higher than last season’s.
Few seasons ago, a valid argument could be raised that if Solanke had stayed put at Chelsea a little bit longer, he could have gotten his chance as just a couple of years after his departure, Chelsea were hit with a transfer ban which led to the arrival of Frank Lampard who fully integrated academy graduates like Reece James, Mason Mount, and Tammy Abraham whose stock as an academy player was never as high as Solanke’s. However, the end has now justified the means as Solanke is now back playing for one of the biggest clubs in England. He will now be an important piece of a special Tottenham Hotspur side that could be challenging for the biggest titles sooner than we all expect.
By: Moe Adikwu / @Moe_Adikwu
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth