Ange Postecoglou has made a number of huge Tottenham decisions since his managerial tenure began with the latest one very quickly being justified. Since his arrival in the summer of 2022, Postecoglou has overseen four transfer windows with well over £200million spent.
James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Guglielmo Vicario quickly become part of Tottenham's core group with Dominic Solanke and Archie Gray the two players brought in during the most recent summer window. After a mixed start to the season, Spurs have won their last five games in all competitions.
Rotation has understandably been conducted in the Europa League and Carabao Cup, but limited alterations have been made in league action. That has resulted in Brennan Johnson, Rodrigo Bentancur, Dejan Kulusevski and Solanke all stepping up to the plate.
Solanke is the only brand new arrival in that group with three goals to his name already following a £65million switch from Bournemouth. His form since returning from injury has not gone unnoticed with Lee Carsley calling him up to the England squad for Nations League fixtures against Finland and Greece.
That taking place just a few months into his Spurs career is perhaps no surprise to Postecoglou with the Spurs boss making it clear on numerous occasions that signing Solanke over the summer was his priority. Ahead of the Europa League clash against Ferencvaros, Postecoglou gave his thoughts on his start to life in north London.
"He got injured really early in the game at Leicester and then proceeded to miss a couple, so for him it's probably been a little bit frustrating, but I knew what we were bringing to the football club," Postecoglou admitted. "I was really confident that the way we play and his attributes that he was going to be a great fit."
"I could see that from the first day of training, but we had to be patient. He's getting up there now in terms of physical fitness, I think every game he looks like he's getting stronger. It's a demanding role up front for us, it's not just about goals, it’s about his link-up play and pressing."
As evidenced by his role in Kulusevski's strike against Manchester United, alongside his recent run of goals, Solanke is showing exactly why Spurs have already paid £55million for his services. The remaining £10million is available as add-ons and some of those could be on the way to the Cherries very soon.
Qualifying for the Champions League or goals are often incentives included by buying clubs to reduce the initial fee paid. Appearances on the international stage, particularly for players that don't feature for their country regularly with it very plausible that was one of the achievable add-ons.
If that does turn out to be the case, Bournemouth will be in for a nice windfall and though Tottenham will have lost out on funds, it certainly proves that Postecoglou was right to sign him with others recognising his ability.
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