Is Dominic Solanke the most underrated player in the Premier League?

Depends who you think is underrated him, probably not most people.

I do find it strange that the biggest clubs aren't often willing to spend big money on players that are doing really well for clubs that are lower in the table these days.

If they can put up the numbers and/or performances for an average side that play the same opposition that we do every week, surely that's less of a gamble that paying big transfer fees and/or wages for a relatives unknown quantity from another league?

How much must we have spent on failed/unfit strikers over the years? Or not been adequately covered?

To me, picking up guys like Watkins, Solanke, Toney, Wilson etc at the right time would make (have made) more sense, then we'd have a solid striker and could upgrade if someone truly top class became available. Instead they go to the likes of Villa, Newcastle etc and inevitably do quite well.

The likes of Trossard and Rice at Arsenal, and Ake at City are proof that it can work just fine. I know City refuse to play Grealish often, and Philips never got a look in, but I'd wager that has more to do with Pep's anal tendencies and the quality of the City squad than those players abilities if fully fit and firing.
 
Interested to see what Richy does. Rejected a move to Saudi but where does that leave him considering the depth they now have in forward positions.

Solanke/Son/Werner/Richarlison/Johnson/Kulusevski/Solomon

I imagine Solomon will leave but he might find it hard to get much game time and he still has ambitions of Brazil.
 
Thing is that he does a lot of very good stuff on the ball and if he has added goalscoring then the price isn't terrible.

You just have to worry the goalscoring is a purple patch. If he reverts to his usual Prem numbers then he's still a decent player but not at that price.
 
Good price considering what we paid for Hojlund. Spurs have a very good forward line, more goals in it than us.
 
Oranges038 said:
Insane price, but he is a good striker. Lot of laughs when Liverpool sold him for 20m.
Let's hope they didn't have a sell on clause.
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Kinda just what strikers cost these days. Since 2022 players like Nunez, Kolo Muani, Hojlund, Isak and Vlahovic have all gone for fees around that £60-65m range. And with Spurs buying from another PL club it was never going to be cheap.

From our POV, that's also the context for the £36m spent on Serie A young player of the year Zirkzee. Relative to the general market, we probably thought it was a good deal for a talented CF, albeit one who isn't a particularly prolific goalscorer.
 
sullydnl said:
Kinda just what strikers cost these days. Since 2022 players like Nunez, Kolo Muani, Hojlund, Isak and Vlahovic have all gone for fees around that £60-65m range. And with Spurs buying from another PL club it was never going to be cheap.
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Yeah, there's a real dearth of quality strikers around now.
 
SilentWitness said:
Interested to see what Richy does. Rejected a move to Saudi but where does that leave him considering the depth they now have in forward positions.

Solanke/Son/Werner/Richarlison/Johnson/Kulusevski/Solomon

I imagine Solomon will leave but he might find it hard to get much game time and he still has ambitions of Brazil.
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The Athletic's sensible transfers for Spurs was a interesting watch.

They recommended cover for van der ven i.e. ndicka from Roma.

Cover at LB for Udogie, kadiolgu from fener.

A right winger who can go inside and outside, bakayoko from PSV.

A new centre forward. Which was a surprise as it wasn't Solanke. It was Lois Openda from RB Leipzeg.

 
GledTheRed said:
As in ones shit and the other is decent?
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Neither are shit.

I don't think they are at their best in the same position. I think Núñez is best as a wide forward on the left and Solanke is best as a target man and focal point of a side.
 
Solanke makes Spurs really dangerous this season. Another club we probably won't get near in the league.
 
I'd wager he scores more goals in the league this season than any United player will

I'm struggling with our reasons for going into another season without a goalscorer in the squad.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
I'd wager he scores more goals in the league this season than any United player will

I'm struggling with our reasons for going into another season without a goalscorer in the squad.
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He'll score more because of how attacking spurs are setup to be by ange.
 
SilentWitness said:
Neither are shit.

I don't think they are at their best in the same position. I think Núñez is best as a wide forward on the left and Solanke is best as a target man and focal point of a side.
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If Nunez played for united, he'd be widely mocked by the media and there wouldn't be nicknames to excuse his terrible misses like captain chaos

Nunez as far as a top 6 team is concerned is shit.
 
Steve Bruce said:
If Nunez played for united, he'd be widely mocked by the media and there wouldn't be nicknames to excuse his terrible misses like captain chaos

Nunez as far as a top 6 team is concerned is shit.
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I'd love to have a collection of shit players that provide 31 goal contributions a season.
 
If United paid that, there would be about 50 pages of people losing their minds right about now.
 
Dan_F said:
If United paid that, there would be about 50 pages of people losing their minds right about now.
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We paid £64m rising to £72m for a kid that had scored 10 goals in the previous season and people were singing his praises. Solanke scored 21 goals in the prem last season. I really don't think anyone would have been losing their minds.
 
Fee is a lot less bonkers than Hojlunds.

I wouldnt exactly put a bet on Solanke scoring more goals next season than Hojlund and Zirkzee combined, but I wouldnt be at all surprised if he did.
 
SilentWitness said:
I'd love to have a collection of shit players that provide 31 goal contributions a season.
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Kevin Phillips scored 30 goals in a Premier league season, he still wasn't good enough for a top team.

I watch football and use my eyes to determine how I rate players, not a statistical breakdown.

For instance I know Nunez got an assist for a miss hit shot that went to salah. It doesn't say that on a stats sheet, it just says assist.

Stats are all well and good but they are far from the be all to end all.

If you think he's brilliant that's fine, your entitled to that opinion. I just don't agree and bringing up some stats isn't going to persuade me any different.
 
Devil_forever said:
We paid £64m rising to £72m for a kid that had scored 10 goals in the previous season and people were singing his praises. Solanke scored 21 goals in the prem last season. I really don't think anyone would have been losing their minds.
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There were a lot of people losing their minds. Maybe slightly less so because we were just so desperate for a striker of any kind.
 
AarhusUnited said:
And becaurse he is better than anything we got
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Meh.

Their rates of goal returns were much of a muchness last season. Hojlund returned at a rate of 0.42 goals per 90, Solanke at a rate of 0.46. Both for teams that created similar amounts (56.5xG versus 55.9xG).

The key difference in their goal tallies (aside from Solanke taking a couple of penalties) was just minutes, with Solanke getting an extra 1,167 minutes in the league. Basically the equivalent of 13 full extra games.

Which is fine, as availability is a great ability. But against that, it was Hojlund's first year in the PL and he's over 5 years younger. And it's not like Solanke is particularly brilliant in general play either.

If Solanke is better now, it's only marginally. And Hojlund has way more upside to grow in the extra half a decade he has on Solanke.
 
Devil_forever said:
We paid £64m rising to £72m for a kid that had scored 10 goals in the previous season and people were singing his praises. Solanke scored 21 goals in the prem last season. I really don't think anyone would have been losing their minds.
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Comparing Solanke to the deals we used to do is not a positive.

Hojlund was over priced but there’s an element of paying for future and his age (still over priced for me)… Solanke is what he is (an ok PL striker) and aged 26, fee too high in my opinion similarly
 
Steve Bruce said:
Kevin Phillips scored 30 goals in a Premier league season, he still wasn't good enough for a top team.

I watch football and use my eyes to determine how I rate players, not a statistical breakdown.

For instance I know Nunez got an assist for a miss hit shot that went to salah. It doesn't say that on a stats sheet, it just says assist.

Stats are all well and good but they are far from the be all to end all.

If you think he's brilliant that's fine, your entitled to that opinion. I just don't agree and bringing up some stats isn't going to persuade me any different.
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Didn't say he was brilliant. Just that he isn't shit. The level isn't just shit or brilliant. There is an inbetween.
 
Is Hojlund better than him?
 
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I can imagine him being a success at Spurs. Bournemouth have used Solanke well and have managed to get the most out of him. I can imagine Spurs will be able to provide him with service and it gives them more of a focal point at the top of the pitch. He's somebody who will get on the end of chances and finish things off and there will be players around him who can support him. It's a signing that makes Spurs a stronger team. The key aspect this season will be building up the play and getting that important service to him.
 
Good signing for them. Solanke has been excellent for the past 12 months and he seemed quite sharp in the Bournemouth friendlies too. Goes straight into my FPL team now.
 
Devil_forever said:
We paid £64m rising to £72m for a kid that had scored 10 goals in the previous season and people were singing his praises. Solanke scored 21 goals in the prem last season. I really don't think anyone would have been losing their minds.
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He scored 19 and it’s only high scoring season in the top flight at the age of 26.

Let’s not get carried away, he’s a decent player who’ll probably do fairly well at Tottenham but he’s hardly the next Harry Kane.
 
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