Dominic Solanke had to have had a few opening-day nerves, mainly because of the size of the transfer fee; also the idea of whose boots he was supposed to fill. It was the second Saturday of August, his £65m move to Tottenham from Bournemouth had been announced and there he was, being introduced at the club’s stadium before their final pre-season friendly.
Harry Kane was there, the Spurs hero back with Bayern Munich for the game, feeling the love of the crowd, popping into the home dressing room, too, and feeling the love even more. If there was a moment to reinforce the scale of the challenge that confronted Solanke, this was surely it.
There have been others. He mentions his “annoying start with the injury” and he is referring to the ankle damage sustained on his debut at Leicester in the opening round of Premier League fixtures. It ruled him out of two matches but nobody has wanted to think about that. The focus has been on a single statistic, the one that defines every striker, and when Solanke drew a blank in the Carabao Cup tie at Coventry, it was trotted out: three appearances, zero goals.
English football has an obsession with fast starts; if a high-profile signing can make one, they can buy themselves a disproportionate amount of credit. But the reverse is equally true. And so on the Friday before last, we had Ange Postecoglou being grilled on how Solanke was dealing with everything, the fee, the pressure and, yes, the goal drought. The Spurs manager’s advice? Jeez, people need to chill, “take a breath, do a bit of yoga …”
Solanke smiles. Maybe he can do so more easily now, the weight of the wait for the all-important breakthrough over, his poacher’s finish against Brentford last Saturday followed by another in Thursday’s Europa League game against Qarabag. Not that Solanke sees it that way.
“It was probably a bit premature after just a few games with, as I say, the start that I had,” he says. “No matter how much you get bought for and what club you play for, there is always going to be pressure. It’s something we have to deal with.”
Solanke does admit that “when you go to a bigger club there’s that added pressure” and he has been here before – at Chelsea, where he surged through the youth ranks as the wonderkid, and then Liverpool, for whom he signed as a free agent in 2017.
“I haven’t had the smoothest journey in my career,” Solanke says, and he can say that again. His first senior manager at Chelsea, José Mourinho, said in the summer of 2014 that if Solanke were not an England international within a few years, he would blame himself.
Mourinho gave Solanke one game in 2014-15 and loaned him to Vitesse Arnhem the following season. Then there was the deep freeze under Antonio Conte in 2016-17. Solanke did not renew his Chelsea contract and did not play at all.
At least Mourinho did not need to reproach himself. Solanke made his England debut in November of his first season at Liverpool – in a 0-0 Wembley draw against Brazil. It did not work out for him at Anfield, mainly for three reasons. They were Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané. Solanke was on the outside, starting six games, failing to locate any rhythm and score more than once. He went to Bournemouth in January 2019 for £17m.
If Bournemouth was the making of Solanke, especially his 19-goal top-flight season last time out, then he feels he has found the perfect fit at Spurs, a team that under Postecoglou never want to take a backward step, who bring a furious tempo. It stands to be a clash of styles when they visit Manchester United on Sunday, a pivotal game for both clubs. Under Erik ten Hag, United have no problem in going back to recycle a move: theirs is a patient, positional approach.
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“We are not scared of anyone so we will go there and be on the front foot,” Solanke says. “One of the reasons why I was so delighted to come to Tottenham was the play style. It suits me. I love it. When the team is playing well, we can dominate games. The way that we play will create chances for me.”
Solanke says he is “probably still getting there” in terms of peak condition and sharpness but is “starting to get a bit of rhythm which is important”. He does not shy away from outlining his ambitions – basically, goals and trophies at Spurs – and they extend to the England scene. Solanke won the European Under-17 Championship in 2014 and the Under-20 World Cup in 2017, starring at both, but he has not added to his one full cap.
“Everyone wants to play for their country and it’s definitely something I’m looking to get back into,” he says. “Was England a part of the idea behind my transfer? Not really. But if you are doing your stuff for a club like Tottenham, it is definitely a lot easier to get into the fold. Tottenham is my main aim. But then hopefully I can get into the England team.”
As for Kane and assuming any mantle from him, Solanke will have none of it. “I spoke to him when Bayern came in pre-season and he came into the changing room,” Solanke says. “He said what you’d probably expect, just good things about Tottenham.
“Harry is who he is. I don’t think anyone would want to see him replaced anyway. He’s a world-class striker. But I’m here now and I want to score as many goals as I can for Tottenham. And hopefully we can win some trophies.”