Ange Postecoglou has admitted Tottenham Hotspur did ‘look at’ Ivan Toney in the summer before settling on signing Dominic Solanke.
The Lilywhites made finally replacing Harry Kane their top priority this summer after battling through the 2023/24 season without an outright No.9.
Spurs were linked with several high-profile strikers, including England international Toney, who was a target for numerous other top Premier League clubs.
In the end, Toney swapped Brentford for the Saudi Pro League, making a profitable move to Al-Ahli.
Instead, Tottenham signed Solanke from Bournemouth in a deal worth up to £65m (per BBC Sport), after the former Liverpool and Chelsea striker scored 19 goals in 38 Premier League appearances last season — and 21 goals across all competitions.
However, Postecoglou has admitted Tottenham did, indeed, have Toney on their shortlist ahead of signing Solanke.
“We did look at him but Dominic was the one we wanted that fit the profile we were looking for at the time,” Postecoglou told reporters on Friday (via BBC Sport).
Tottenham: Ange calls on Solanke critics to ‘take a breath’
Solanke has struggled to get going at Spurs so far, yet to register a goal or assist in three appearances for this new club.
Most recently, he had just 24 touches of the ball and failed to attempt a shot in 62 minutes as Spurs came from behind late on to beat Coventry 2-1 away from home in the EFL Cup.
But Postecoglou has called on Solanke’s critics to ‘take a breath’ and withhold judgement until the player has been given a chance to settle into his new surroundings.
“People are just so quick to judge, mate,” the Australian said.
“It’s a small sample. The guy has played less than two games for us. If he has gone 15 games without a goal then I can answer that question or 15 games where he hasn’t contributed, but I just think take a breath. Do a bit of yoga. Think about the world for a second and make an assessment after that.
“We don’t have to rush to judgement all the time because the alternative is he may have got off to a great start, he is fit, scored in all four games, is flying and then he goes through a patch like all strikers where he doesn’t score.
“I just don’t look at those things. What I look at is he has come in, fitted really well and quite logically has picked up an injury that has disrupted the way he wanted to start his career, but he’s still got plenty of time for that.”
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