Tottenham ‘finalising deal’ for Dominic Solanke as Bournemouth agree to club-record sale

Tottenham are ‘finalising a deal’ for striker Dominic Solanke as Bournemouth agree to his club-record departure.

Solanke scored 19 Premier League goals last term to help Bournemouth to secure a 12th-placed finish in the top flight and has been heavily linked with a move away from the Cherries this summer with a number of top clubs interested.

David Ornstein of the The Athletic claims Spurs have beaten off competition to sign the 26-year-old , who has agreed personal terms and is desperate to secure a move to the north London club.

Solanke is under contract with Bournemouth until 2029 but has a £65m release clause in his contract which can be triggered by certain clubs.

It’s not clear whether Tottenham have triggered that release clause, though the report does confirm that his departure would represent a club-record sale for Bournemouth, surpassing the £45m Manchester City paid for Nathan Ale in the summer of 2020.

Spurs have been without a senior striker since Harry Kane left for Bayern Munich a year ago and manager Ange Postecoglou said their focus was on a No.9 who would suit his style of play.

“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.”

Solanke began his career at Chelsea before moving to Liverpool in 2017 on a free transfer.

Limited game time at Anfield saw him move to Bournemouth in January 2019 for £19m – a fee deemed to be quite high at the time.

But the Cherries now look set to recoup that fee and more, though Liverpool reportedly inserted a clause in that deal that would see the Reds land 20 per cent of a future sale, so they could receive as much as £9m if Spurs pay the full release clause.

Solanke would be Tottenham’s third signing of the summer so far after 18-year-old midfielders Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall joined from Leeds and Djugarden respectively, while Postecoglou’s side have also agreed a deal for South Korean winger Yang Min-hyuk, who will arrive in January.

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While on pre-season tour, Postecoglou explained how he decides in a first meeting with a potential signing whether a player is right for the club.

“Some of it is just maturity – it’s how the conversation goes. Really, I’m a big one on players who are really excited to join the club. You might think that that should be a given, but it’s not always the case,” said the 58-year-old.

“Sometimes, rightly so, players go, ‘Oh, I’ve got other options,’ and they do, the kind of players we’re looking at, they’ve got other options. It might be better financial conditions or a different competition, or a bigger club in their mind, whatever it is.

“If you’re having a conversation that’s going that way, it kind of tells me that I’ve got to really figure out why this person really wants to come to us. What’s the underlying reason? Where, if you get that sense – and I’ve had it with most of the guys we’ve signed – ‘Yeah, I just want to sign for Tottenham, buzzing, can’t wait to get started,’ that’s a good starting point for me, because you know you’ve got someone who, from the day he signs, is all in on the club for the right reasons, you know.

“They’ve come to Tottenham and that was their choice. It wasn’t because we gave them more money or it’s whatever other reason. Beyond that, it’s that intuitive thing of just trying everything to get an understanding of what the motivations are, what kind of person they are.

“It’s not an exact science and you get these things wrong, but usually, when I’ve walked away with a really good feeling about the conversation, it kind of gives me the confidence to say ‘Well, okay, we can push on’.”