Son Heung-min, the top scorer, brought in a surprise move to revive 'Here we go!'...Tottenham to create a 'NEW Sonke Duo"→"Transfer agreement completed for 113 billion + six-year contract"

Aug 10, 2024

Tottenham has made an unconventional recruitment to bring Son Heung-min back to his days as the top scorer.

David Onstein, a journalist with the global sports media The Athletic and the highest public confidence, reported on the 10th (Korea time) 'Tottenham has reached a full agreement with Bournemouth on the recruitment of Dominic Solanke'

Onstein will undergo a medical test after Tottenham signed a £65 million (about 113 billion won) contract with Bournemouth. The contract is expected to be a six-year contract. Solanke is desperate to move to Tottenham and has been one of manager Enze Postecoglou's goals. Bournemouth have decided to sell him for the club's highest transfer fee ever, he explained.

European soccer transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano also said that the contract was made using the signature transfer statement 'Here we go!'

Tottenham wanted to reinforce their attacking team this summer. We have prepared a recruitment to fill the void of Harry Kane, who left the team. Although Son Heung-min, who scored 17 goals last season, and Hishalisson's rebound, it was difficult to completely fill the void of top striker Kane.

Several candidates have been mentioned steadily. It included several frontline strikers who are well-received in Europe, including Santiago Jimenez, Jonathan David and Ivan Toney. Tottenham's choice was Solanke among them.

Solanke led Bournemouth's frontline attack last season with 19 goals in the league alone. Solanke's performance was so great that Son Heung-min also finished in a lower league scoring position than Solanke last season with 17 goals.Not many people expected Solanke to score until the beginning of the season. In the championship, he consistently showed good scoring ability and scored 29 goals and 7 assists in 46 championship games during the 2021-2022 season, but in the 2022-2023 season of the EPL, he only scored 6 goals and 7 assists in 33 games. However, the previous season was markedly different. Solanke, who scored four goals in his first 10 league games, then accelerated his scoring. He scored his first multi-goal of the season against Newcastle, and then continued his scoring streak against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Luton Town. In the match against Nottingham Forest, he scored a hat-trick by scoring two goals with only a header and adding one with his right foot. Solanke, who continued to score since then, was amazing in ranking fourth in the league after Elling Holan, Cole Palmer and Aleksandar Isaac last season.

Considering Solanke's childhood performance, I can understand his current growth. Solanke was a talented player enough in his childhood. He also stood out in England's national team by age. In 2017, he scored four goals at the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Korea and won the Golden Ball, the MVP of the tournament. However, since then, he has rarely seen the light in Chelsea, Vitesse, and Liverpool.

I was able to get another chance at Bournemouth. Solanke led Bournemouth's promotion in the 2021-2022 season, living up to Bournemouth's belief, and this season he also contributed to Bournemouth's winning streak by breaking his scoring ability.

Initially, Tottenham quickly showed interest in recruiting Solanke and negotiated. The British Telegraph said: 'Tottenham is trying to move forward with Solanke's recruitment. They are negotiating. Bournemouth offer a £65m buyout, but no other club is willing to match it. Tottenham can try to make a deal on those terms, with favourable payment terms, but there is a lot of work to be done to make progress,' he said, describing the current transfer negotiations.

Then 'Solangke is considered to be a good fit for coach Enze Postecoglou's style. He scored 21 goals in every game for Bournemouth last season. Postecoglou explained, 'We want to recruit a striker to place Son on the left side where he can be more effective.

European soccer transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano also said on his personal SNS on the 7th that `Tottenham is negotiating between clubs to recruit Dominic Solanke' and began negotiations with Bournemouth to complete the transfer of Solanke. Solanke transfer negotiations are underway to find an agreement, and the player has floated the green light towards Tottenham. Tottenham want Solanke.

Tottenham initially had concerns about the transfer fee. This is because there are not many successful cases among the recent cases of investing huge transfer fees. In 2019, he transferred to Tottenham with 65 million pounds (about 110 billion won), the highest transfer fee ever, and received tremendous expectations, but there was a case of Tanguy Ndombele that never showed a match for expectations, and Hishalisson, who recorded a similarly high transfer fee, was below expectations. In this situation, Tottenham is also concerned about investing huge transfer fees to Solanke, who has already failed in big clubs Chelsea and Liverpool. However, it seems that Son Heung-min has made a decision to improve the environment in which he will play more and his team's scoring ability. If Solanke is confirmed, it is expected to be the club's highest transfer fee.

With Solanke's imminent joining, Son Heung-min's performance in the next season can be expected even more. Considering Solanke's strengths, synergy with Son Heung-min is expected when he joins Tottenham. Solanke is a player who shows the ability of a hexagon on the front line, and has strengths not only in the physical part, but also in various areas such as the ability to hold and hold the ball, connection, side penetration, and participation in defense. With speed and shooting ability, he can show enough destructive power in the front line with Son Heung-min.

If Solanke joins, Son Heung-min is also expected to play a strong role on the left side, where he can show his strengths by forming a new duo. Already at the end of last season, there were many claims that Son Heung-min should return to the left side. In the British media, Enze Postecoglou should find a way to return Son's form to its best. He also claimed that Hishalisson's selection allows him to see Son's movement to the left, which could be the key to finding Son in his best form. Postecoglou also showed signs of contemplating a tactic to put Son Heung-min back on the side, including using Dejan Kulusevski as the front line during the pre-season this summer.

If Son Heung-min and Solanke play as new 'Sonke Duo' as expected, Son Heung-min's try again as EPL's top scorer is not unreasonable. Son Heung-min was the top scorer in the EPL in the 2021-2022 season, and Son Heung-min's good form from the left side and his teamwork with Kane at the front line were effective in scoring.

Coach Postecoglou, who used Son Heung-min on the left and wanted to further revive the team's attack, was recruited. More attention is expected to be paid to Solanke's performance in Tottenham's front line with Son Heung-min in the next season.

digh1229@sportschosun.com