Dominic Solanke went from a 3 million pound striker to a 55 million pound one
Liverpool paid a tribunal-set fee of about 3 million pounds for Dominic Solanke in 2017, and he scored once for them. Seven years later Tottenham agreed a reported 55 million pounds for the same striker, a Bournemouth club record. What changed in between was a slow rebuild in the second tier.
Born in Reading to a Nigerian Yoruba father and an English mother, Solanke joined Chelsea's under-eight side in 2004. His youth numbers were extraordinary: 41 goals in 2014-15, including 12 in nine games as Chelsea won the UEFA Youth League, plus two FA Youth Cup winners' medals. Jose Mourinho said he would blame himself if the teenager did not become a senior England player under his watch. Solanke debuted in the Champions League against Maribor in October 2014, at the time the youngest Chelsea player to do so.
First-team chances never followed. A loan to Vitesse in the Netherlands brought seven league goals, and he then sat third in line behind Diego Costa and Michy Batshuayi before leaving on a free. At international youth level he thrived, finishing joint top scorer as England won the European under-17 title in 2014 and taking the Golden Ball at the 2017 under-20 World Cup, where he scored in both knockout rounds before the final.
Bournemouth spent a reported 19 million pounds on him in January 2019, and he needed 39 league games to score his first Premier League goals. Relegation in 2020 proved useful. In the Championship he hit 15 and then 29 goals, the second tally driving promotion, and back in the top flight he became the first Bournemouth player named player of the month, for December 2023, finishing that season with 19 league goals.
At Tottenham he reached his 100th career goal in the 2025 Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt and helped win the trophy. Southgate left him out of the Euro 2024 squad, but he returned to England duty in October 2024 after seven years away. Off the pitch he celebrates goals with poses from anime such as Naruto and Attack on Titan.
Source: Dominic Solanke
