Tottenham Hotspur will spend the club’s highest transfer fee to recruit Dominic Solanke, who will be Son’s new partner.
David Onstein of the global sports media “The Athletic” said on the 9th (Korea Standard Time), “Bonnemouth are in the process of finalizing negotiations with Tottenham over the transfer of Solanke, and have decided to sell Solanke at the club’s highest price ever. Solanke has already agreed with Tottenham on his personal conditions and is eager to move to Tottenham.”
Tottenham seems to have invoked the buyout clause that was included in Solanke’s contract terms to recruit him. According to multiple local media, Solanke’s buyout amount is known to be 65 million pounds (about 113.2 billion won).
After Onstein’s report, multiple media outlets, including British public broadcaster “BBC” and broadcaster “Sky Sports,” also reported that Solanke is scheduled to move to Tottenham after completing an agreement with Tottenham. The transfer fees mentioned by the media vary, but Tottenham is expected to record more than 60 million pounds (about 104.5 billion won) when Solanke is recruited.
Sky Sports said Solanke is expected to undergo a medical test at Tottenham within the weekend, and detailed the date of Solanke’s medical test. In fact, it can be said that Solanke’s transfer to Tottenham has entered the final stage.
Fabrizio Romano, an expert in the European soccer transfer market who works for the British daily Guardian, also said on social networking services (SNS) that Solanke’s transfer to Tottenham is imminent, using his signature phrase “Here We Go” when a player’s transfer is confirmed.
It was on the 7th that Solanke’s transfer to Tottenham was raised.
“Tottenham is seeking to recruit Bournemouth striker Solanke,” the British media Telegraph said at the time. Solanke is at the top of Tottenham’s striker recruitment list, and Tottenham has held discussions to recruit Solanke, who played for Liverpool and Chelsea in the past,” adding that Solanke has emerged as a candidate for Tottenham’s new striker.
“Solanke, who is 26, is known to have inserted a £65 million buyout clause when he signed with Bournemouth, but other clubs have not tried to trigger this clause so far,” he said. “Tottenham can try to make a deal by offering a favorable payment condition for Bournemouth, but there is a lot of work to do first for Tottenham to make significant progress in recruiting.”
It is clear why Tottenham, which was initially linked to side resources such as Nico Williams and Eberechi Eze, changed its direction to seek a striker. The move is aimed at maximizing Son Heung-min, who has to play a key role in coach Anji Postecoglou’s tactics next season.
Son Heung-min started as a striker from the beginning of the season, not a winger, after Harry Kane left last season and Hisalisson was sluggish. With the support of second-tier players including James Madison and Dejan Kulusevski, he scored 17 goals in the Premier League alone, forgetting the disappointing 2022-23 season.
However, as Son Heung-min suffered physical problems after visiting the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, Tottenham’s offense was also shaken. When the striker was not Son’s main position and his physical ups and downs came, he was unable to display his skills.
Just in time, Hishalisson was revived, and Son Heung-min was able to play as a side striker rather than a front-line striker. Son Heung-min, who had played as a side striker for most of his career, showed his highest level of performance again when he returned to the side. The second half of the 2023-24 season was a time to confirm once again that Son Heung-min is also a more suitable player in the side than in the center. 메이저사이트
Efforts to have Son on the side continued throughout the pre-season. Postecoglou had Kulusevskiy at the forefront as a zero-top and sidelined Son during the Asian tour that pitted Vissel Kobe (J-League), K-League All-Star team K-League, and Bayern Munich.
This approach was successful in its own right, but it was hard to say for sure if it was a tactic that would work against other teams during the regular season and not in friendly matches. Tottenham had to settle for having an option in the absence of a striker.
In the end, he found a striker who could flexibly connect the ball to second-line players, including Son Heung-min, while fighting against opposing defenders on the front line. Of course, he was previously connected to Brentford’s Ivan Toney, but Solanke was a better type of player than Toney, indicating that Tottenham was eventually looking for a player of the same style as Kane.
Solanke is a striker who is similar to Kane in terms of playing style. Solanke is assessed to have competitive edge with opposing defenders by banking on his physical conditions including his height in his late 180s and creating chances through connection with second-line players. In addition, Solanke scored 19 goals in the Premier League last season, demonstrating his scoring ability.
Therefore, if Solanke joins, Son Heung-min will be able to play the best he can by playing on the left side again. Unlike last season, when he was under a lot of pressure, he will be able to focus on one thing. Rather, the number of points is more likely to increase.
It is also expected that Solanke, who has been selected as Son Heung-min’s new partner, will perform at Tottenham. Tottenham enjoyed the attack with the so-called Sonke Duo before Kane left for Munich, and if Solanke shows good chemistry with Son Heung-min, fans may feel the nostalgia of Sonke Duo for the first time in a long time.