MY ACCOUNT
Dominic Solanke was tipped for the top but Bournemouth’s No9 has struggled to scale those heights.
Spells with Chelsea and Liverpool both ended in frustration and the 25-year-old striker, once considered one of England’s brightest prospects, now finds himself operating at the bottom end of the Premier League.
Solanke bagged just his fourth top-flight goal of the season against Fulham last time out and is in line to feature against Brighton this evening.
Ahead of the contest, we put the Cherries forward under the microscope.
Early hype
Solanke’s impressive goalscoring for Chelsea and England’s youth sides saw him forge a serious reputation, with former Blues boss Jose Mourinho one of several high-profile admirers.
It was the legendary Portuguese tactician who promoted Solanke to his first-team squad at Stamford Bridge during the 2014-15 campaign, making a rather bold statement in the process.
Mourinho said: “My conscience tells me that if, for example, [Lewis] Baker, [Izzy] Brown and Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself.”
As it worked out, Solanke would be the only one of that trio to represent England at senior level — albeit only once so far.
He made just one senior appearance for the Blues before a high-profile move to Liverpool where one goal in 27 appearances saw the Reds sanction a sale to Bournemouth after just 18 months.
Big fish
The Cherries were reported to have paid around £19million to sign Solanke in January 2019, hoping to finally unlock his undoubted potential.
However, the Basingstoke-born ace’s scoring struggles continued, taking 39 outings to net his first Premier League goals for the Cherries against Leicester.
Ultimately, Bournemouth were relegated to the Championship that season — and it was back in the second tier where Solanke finally started to find his feet.
A 15-goal haul in 2020-21 was followed by a magnificent 29 league strikes last term, with only Aleksandar Mitrovic’s record-breaking tally of 43 pipping him to the division’s Golden Boot.
That prolific campaign prompted speculation that Solanke would finally take the Premier League by storm this season but that has not yet come to fruition.
Self-belief
Solanke’s match-winning strike against Fulham last weekend, bundling home a parried Ryan Christie shot, was just his fifth goal of 2022-23.
Though the marksman has also laid on four assists for his team-mates, it makes for a disappointing haul given what he achieved last season.
Solanke clearly enjoys facing the Cottagers, having netted in his last four meetings with them — a record he admits gave him confidence going into the encounter.
After the game, he admitted: “It shows that I’ve done it before, so I can do it again.
“Every game I look to try and score, but obviously my record against Fulham is decent, so I’m happy to add to that.”
Selfish streak
While Solanke’s goal tally has been underwhelming, he still brings plenty to the party for Bournemouth.
Only three players have featured more than him this season, showing how crucial Cherries boss Gary O’Neil considers the 25-year-old to be for his side.
Ex-midfielder O’Neil reckons Solanke’s disappointing goal return is largely down to work he does off the ball which often goes unnoticed.
O’Neil said: “The one thing we have to work on with Dom is being a little bit less for the team and a bit more so for himself.
“He is extremely honest and hard-working. If anything, his tendency is to drop too much to try and help.”
Perhaps if Solanke takes his manager’s advice, he can still become a prolific Premier League striker.
