Dominic Solanke's impending transfer to Tottenham might have progressed at a rapid rate, but the £65million deal may well have been 12 years in making, according to a social media post.
The 26-year-old is poised to seal a club-record switch to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after Spurs agreed terms with Bournemouth on a £65m deal, surpassing the £63m they paid to sign Tanguy Ndombele in 2019.
Solanke, who missed out on England's Euro 2024 squad this summer, made it clear he wanted the move - and the clues were already evident from his adolescent years.
A tweet from Solanke has resurfaced on X (formerly known as Twitter) from September 2012, where Spurs fans noticed his excitement about heading to the club's training ground in Enfield.
"Going to Tottenham training ground today, heard it's amazing," Solanke wrote.
Nearly 12 years later, Solanke would be returning to the same training complex to undergo his medical ahead of his big-money switch.
At the time, the striker was only 14 and a promising youth prospect on the books at Chelsea. He spent a decade at Cobham working his way through the ranks before leaving in 2017.
Solanke caused a stir by leaving the Blues for Liverpool on a free transfer, with the Reds paying £6.5million, with add-ons and other clauses included, after the clubs avoided a tribunal.
But after scoring just one goal in 27 appearances for the Merseyside club, Solanke opted for a fresh start on the South Coast and signed for Bournemouth in a £19m transfer.
He rediscovered his knack for scoring goals when the Cherries were relegated to the Championship, bagging 44 goals in 86 outings in the second tier. And while his first season back in the top flight produced a modest return of seven goals in 35 appearances, he enjoyed his finest top-flight season to date last year, finding the net 19 times.
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Speaking about their interest in Solanke, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou admitted they had been searching for the ideal profile for a striker after Harry Kane departed 12 months ago.
"What’s important is the type of striker we get. You know we play a certain way," the Australian said.
"We demand certain things from a physical perspective from the technical aspects of it that it’s going be a striker that fits that mould.
“It’s still the area of the park we’re really probably the thinnest when I talk about squad-wise at the moment, so obviously that’s a focus for us.”