Bournemouth agree to sell Dominic Solanke for club-record transfer fee
A huger blow for the Cherries.
Bournemouth have reluctantly agreed to sell Dominic Solanke for a club-record transfer fee.
The former Liverpool and Chelsea striker has enjoyed a renaissance on the south coast and scored 21 goals last season.
Solanke narrowly missed out on being selected for England’s Euro 2024 squad and is desperate to take the next step in his career.
Chelsea, his boyhood club, have been linked with making a move for the 26-year-old, while Arsenal were credited with an interest back in January.
According to The Athletic, however, it is Tottenham who are the favourites to sign the proven Premier League goalscorer and negotiations are set to continue over the course of the next few days.
Solanke’s current contract is understood to contain a £65 million release clause, but that can only be activated by certain clubs.
Tottenham resisted the temptation to sign a new striker following the departure of Harry Kane last summer but Ange Postecoglou now appears ready to recruit his ideal replacement for the England skipper.
‘What’s important is the type of striker we get,’ Postecoglou said during Tottenham’s pre-season tour of Japan.
‘You know we play a certain way. We demand certain things from a physical perspective from the technical aspects of it that it’s going be a striker that fits that mould.
‘It’s still the area of the park we’re really probably the thinnest when I talk about squad-wise at the moment, so obviously that’s a focus for us.’
It had been assumed that Spurs would part fund Solanke’s transfer through the sale of Richarison who had been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League.
The Brazil international, however, issued a defiant message on Thursday, insisting he was ready to fight for his future after two largely frustrating seasons in north London.
The 27-year-old told ESPN Brasil: ‘There has been an offer but my dream of playing for the Brazilian Selecao and in the Premier League speaks louder. The money is big but my dreams are bigger.’
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