Tottenham Hotspur have signed striker Dominic Solanke for £65m and West Ham have made a major admission about the deal.
Tottenham completed the signing of striker Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth this weekend and it has not gone unnoticed at West Ham.
The likes of BBC Sport claim the move is a Spurs club record £65m deal, just under three times what West Ham paid for Niclas Fullkrug.
The Hammers are in the midst of a stunning transfer window, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka set to become the club’s eighth signing.
The fee Tottenham have spent on Solanke, though, has been making headlines – and raising eyebrows.
One of the key positions that needed to be addressed for West Ham and Tottenham this summer was up front.
Both the London rivals have now done that, with two contrasting profiles of player.
Hammers held talks with Solanke’s family
But heading into the window, Solanke was one of West Ham’s top targets.
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Back in March it was reported that West Ham had already held talks with Solanke’s family over a summer move to the London Stadium.
The Hammers were keen to show Solanke how serious they were about building their new-look team around him.
But in May we reported on Hammers News that Spurs had hijacked West Ham’s move for Solanke.
Solanke’s link-up play, pace, strength and all round game has blossomed at Bournemouth.
The Hammers had promised to more than double the soon-to-be 27-year-old’s wages to £115k per week.
It is Tottenham who have won this particular race, though.
Now West Ham have made a major admission about Spurs striker signing Solanke.
West Ham make major admission about Spurs striker signing
Speaking exclusively to Hammers News, the top spokesman inside the club confirmed West Ham dearly wanted the English striker.
But Tottenham simply blew them out of the water in a window where West Ham had to spread their budget across a major squad rebuild.
“We were interested,” the senior London Stadium contact told Hammers News.
“David Sullivan would have loved Solanke.
“We just don’t have £65m to spend on a single player.”
What will be interesting now is who proves the better value for money between £65m Solanke and £23m Fullkrug.
The Germany striker is a powerful and unerring finisher but – by his own admission – lacks pace.
Who got better value for money between Spurs and West Ham?
Solanke has a bit of everything but has spells where he can be erratic in his finishing.
Both strikers will be the number one starters for West Ham and Spurs so the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
Solanke will undoubtedly get many more chances playing in a better side than Bournemouth.
Fullkrug will be surrounded by quality at West Ham too, playing with Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville.
The obvious factor in Tottenham’s favour is that Solanke is five years Fullkrug’s junior.
So if he is a big hit at Spurs, they have their striker for the next few years at least.
Whereas the Hammers might be lucky to get two or three good seasons out of Fullkrug.
Given the supremely high standard of West Ham’s recruitment, it says a lot about how good a capture Solanke is for Tottenham that they beat the Hammers to his signature.
Had Julen Lopetegui not needed to completely overhaul his squad then it may have been West Ham sitting here unveiling Solanke as their record signing.
Fans won’t have too long to wait to find out who has got the better deal.