View: 97.4% ace crucial to helping Ange break Tottenham trophy hoodoo, McCoist called him 'Key'

Dominic Solanke raised eyebrows with his move to Tottenham Hotspur some weeks ago – mainly due to the £65million amount slapped down to make him the club’s most expensive ever signing.

Taking the baton from Tanguy Ndombele, Solanke arrived from Bournemouth and, while he has only had one chance to get off the mark, will certainly have the Spurs faithful hoping for a far more significant impact than their previous record buy.

Only a debut at Leicester City has so far seen the striker appear, with an ankle injury sidelining him against both Everton and Newcastle; his goals were not missed in the former, but the trip to Tyneside may have favoured Spurs far more had Solanke been fit as something was glaringly missing from the attack.

Live on talkSPORT on Tuesday morning [3 September, 07:22], Jeff Stelling posed to Ally McCoist the fact that both Solanke and Micky van de Ven were crucially absent from Sunday’s defeat and “could not put the ball in the net”, to which McCoist responded: “Correct. Two key players for Tottenham moving forward.”

And Solanke’s impact will be integral this campaign for Ange Postecoglou, who has boldly pointed out [Sky Sports, 19 August] that “in my second season I win things” – hinting at the potential silverware of which Spurs have been starved in the past 16 years.

Tottenham unlock new attacking aspect with Dominic Solanke

There is a reason Solanke cost £65m – long story short, he scored 19 of Bournemouth’s 54 goals in a 12th-placed Premier League side that lost 16 games.

But to delve a little deeper, the 26-year-old has shown the reason why he can also list Chelsea and Liverpool as previous clubs – it is no coincidence – with how he compares to Spurs’ attacking options and offers a different dynamic.

First off, this injury issue is a rarity in recent times in Solanke’s career, having played 97.43% of the entire Premier League season in 2023-24 and featuring in every game [Soccerway].

Crucially, he scored more goals last season than any of his new attacking teammates, and was only behind Son Heung-min in total goal contributions [22 to Son’s 27]; he also produced an xG of 19.6, largely delivering on this stat and showing he can find opportunities as well as take them [FBRef].

Solanke also netted 49% of his shots on target for the Cherries last year, the highest ahead of Richarlison [44%] and Son [39%], and took his 106 shots from an average of 12.2 yards out – closer to goal than his old counterparts, showing that predatory “number-nine” instinct that has eluded Tottenham.

There are different strengths Postecoglou can utilise in each player – Timo Werner retains the ball better than any other Spurs attacker; Dejan Kulusevski’s passing stats are superb. Solanke is the goalscorer, but also an imperative first line of defence.

Both in attack and defending, Solanke’s aerial duel success rate of 41.8% last season far surpasses that of his teammates – Werner at 33.3% is second; Son last at just 23.8%.

In playing for a Bournemouth side often up against it in the Premier League – to a far bigger extent than Spurs – Solanke’s 97 ball recoveries, 31 blocks of shots and 29 ball-wins in the final third [Fotmob] make him an incredible forward player to get Postecoglou’s men back in the ascendancy.

Kulusevski’s defensive impact is important when he is on the pitch, but when Solanke has to carry that flame from the front, Spurs may be able to regain possession far more efficiently – and they have a £65m striker to bury the forthcoming chances.

In other Tottenham news, a massive signing from Real Madrid for the WSL side.

For more Tottenham news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.

The post View: 97.4% ace crucial to helping Ange break Tottenham trophy hoodoo, McCoist called him 'Key' appeared first on Tottenham Hotspur News.