Solanke's 'random' shirt number choice has some Tottenham fans worried

Dominic Solanke's Tottenham journey has taken another step forward ahead of the start of the Premier League season.

The striker — signed for an initial £55 million fee ($71m) from Bournemouth with a potential future add-on of £10 million ($13m) — has been revealed as the club's new No. 19 after Tottenham's squad numbers for the new campaign were confirmed.

Solanke, who will begin wearing the shirt for Spurs' opener to the new EPL season with Leicester on Monday, joined the club on a six-year deal on August 10.

The 26-year-old is expected to lead the line against Leicester, and will be hoping to continue his prolific scoring form that saw him net 77 times in 216 appearances in all competitions for Bournemouth.

However, his choice of shirt number has raised a few eyebrows among Tottenham fans, with some quick to point out that the previous owner of the No. 19 was widely considered a flop.

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'Hopefully it doesn't have the same impact as on Sessegnon'

Solanke was able to chose the No. 19 shirt after it was vacated in the summer by the departing Ryan Sessegnon.

Sessegnon joined Tottenham in 2019 after impressing as an academy graduate at Fulham, but his spell with the club was limited to just 57 appearances and was marred by injury issues.

Sessegnon left on a free transfer at the end of the season and subsequently joined former club Fulham on a two-year deal.

Replying to a video of Solanke's shirt unveiling on X (Twitter), one fan simply posted: "Hopefully, it doesn't have the same impact as it did on Sessengnon."

Others were confused by why Solanke has not chosen the other possible options of 11 or 12, both of which are free after the departures of Bryan Gil and Emerson Royal from the club.

Solanke can take heart, though, from the fact that there have been more successful No. 19s at the club, with Mousa Dembele and Adel Taarabt both among those to have worn the number for Spurs previously.