Dominic Solanke: Does Tottenham need a new striker?

Tottenham has just completed a move for Dominic Solanke as Ange Postecoglou continues to strengthen his squad as much as he can.

The Lilywhites could not replace Harry Kane with a prolific striker after the England star left them for Bayern Munich last season.

Kane had, for several seasons, been one of the best strikers in the world and worked so hard to win some trophies on the books of the Lilywhites.

However, he did not find success, which prompted a move to Bayern Munich at the start of last season, and Spurs were expected to replace him.

The truth is that there is simply no replacement for Harry Kane, and they failed to qualify for the Champions League at the end of last term, understandably without his goals.

However, Spur were able to rely on Son Heung-Min again, a player who formed a deadly strike partnership with Kane at the club.

Son also had the chance to leave the club, with reports linking him with a move away from the Tottenham Stadium.

However, South Korea is loyal and scored 17 league goals to fire Tottenham back into Europe at the end of the last campaign.

Spurs considered several names as possible replacements for Harry Kane in the last campaign, but they failed to find a suitable name and banked on the unreliable Richarlison as their only striker.

Postecoglou was also confident that the likes of Son, James Maddison and Brenan Johnson had enough goals in them to help his team.

For several weeks at the start of the campaign, it seemed to work as Tottenham worked its way to the top of the Premier League standings.

However, when the big boys began to hit their stride, the Lilywhites struggled to put wins together, which ultimately led to them finishing the season outside the top four.

Was scoring goals a problem for them? Probably not, as they scored the seventh-highest in the Premier League, although Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Chelsea scored more than them.

Tottenham tickets still sold out for most games in the last campaign despite the departure of Harry Kane, but do they need to replace him now?

Missing Harry Kane?

One of the biggest sales Spurs have made in recent memory is the transfer of Harry Kane, and his departure has made a bigger impact on their team than Gareth Bale’s.

Kane scored 213 league goals for Spurs and scored 32 times in his final season at the club, which should have earned them a better finish.

Richarlison is the striker Spurs signed as his backup while he was in London, and the Brazilian was expected to be an understudy to the Englishman and replace him when he left.

However, the former Everton striker has been nowhere near the outputs of Harry Kane, even though he has scored some brilliant goals.

Richarlison has scored just 12 times in 55 league games since he moved to Spurs in 2022, and he does not even come close to scoring as many times as Kane’s former partner in crime, Son.

The South Korean continues to lead the way and has scored 27 times in the last two Premier League seasons.

It is clear that Kane’s departure has left a huge gap for Tottenham to fill, and despite starting last season so well that we all wondered if they could be the Champions of England, Spurs will underachieve this term if a new striker does not join their squad.

The current attacking options

Some teams do not rely so much on an out-and-out striker to help them with the goals they need to win games, and this does not mean they cannot succeed.

Before the arrival of Erling Haaland, Manchester City did not rely on a number nine, and they still won several Premier League titles.

Postecoglou is one of those managers who make the most of what they have, and the Spurs gaffer has so far focused on using the attacking talents at his disposal despite clearly missing a lethal number nine.

Tottenham Hotspur has consistently invested in their squad, and they have some of the best attacking talents in England, led by Son.

The South Korean has scored 120 Premier League goals for Spurs already and holds some impressive Asian goalscoring records.

He could have been their main man in attack this season and can be trusted to make a huge difference in front of goal, but Solanke will now reduce that burden.

Although Richarlison has been linked with a move away from Spurs, Postecoglou hopes to get the best from the Brazilian if he stays, and hopefully, this will be his best season at the club.

Timo Werner is back for another loan spell after doing well at the Tottenham Stadium last season, and he needs to add more goals to his game this term.

Brennan Johnson joined Spurs as one of the most exciting attackers in the Premier League last term and scored only 5 times in the league for them, but he remains one of their best outlets for goals.

Manor Solomon missed most of his first season at the club through injury, but he showed during his loan spell at Fulham that he can be a terrific player.

Dejan Kulusevski is undoubtedly one of the best attackers in the squad, and the Swede has been mostly a hit since he joined them from Juventus.

If he can find more consistency in scoring, Tottenham will get more goals from yet another outlet.

Why Solanke is good enough for Spurs

While the above options are terrific players, only Son has a better goal record than Dominic Solanke in the last three seasons.

The former Chelsea and Liverpool striker has forged a superb career for himself at Bournemouth, and he is now outrightly one of the best players in the league.

Spurs are smart to have signed the 26-year-old who has been consistently improving in every campaign as a player of Bournemouth.

In his first season on their books, he scored zero goals and scored just three Premier League goals in 32 matches in 2019/2020.

However, in the next campaign, he scored 15 times in the Championship and followed that up with 29 strikes in England’s second division as Bournemouth gained promotion back to the Premier League in 2022.

It took him time to get going in the Premier League, and he scored just six times in the 2022/2023 Premier League season.

However, Solanke improved significantly last term and scored 19 times in the Premier League as Bournemouth impressed.

He is now one of the most consistent scorers in the Premier League. Solanke is no Harry Kane and does not come close to being in the same calibre as the England captain, but he will do a job at Tottenham.

He now knows how to score with both feet, with his head and his runs in behind  give defenders nightmares.

Tottenham’s style of play will suit him, and they have enough attackers to support him with enough assists to keep scoring.

Conclusion

Losing a big name like Harry Kane calls for a replacement, and Solanke could be the man for the job at Tottenham.

He has enough experience now, and working at a bigger club like Spurs will make him even better.