Tottenham’s summer signing Dominic Solanke has had a challenging start at his new club, suffering an injury during the Premier League opener against Leicester City.

The knock ruled him out of Spurs’ following games against Everton and Newcastle, leaving the team without a key attacking option.

While Solanke’s injury was not deemed overly serious, manager Ange Postecoglou opted not to risk him against Newcastle.

Unfortunately, the absence of a clinical striker was evident, as Tottenham struggled to convert their numerous chances into goals.

Hopes for a return ahead of the North London derby

Tottenham’s next match is the highly anticipated North London derby against Arsenal, and Postecoglou will be hoping that Solanke is fit to start.

Injury expert Dr. Rajpal Brar shared an update, suggesting that the striker is nearing a return.

Speaking to Tottenham News, Dr Brar said:

“It sounds like he is quite close to returning from his ankle setback and based on what Ange said, the medical team was being conservative with him to make sure he’s ready to go for some big matches following the international break.“

“Although he was injury free last season, any player can pick up a knock regardless of injury history.“

“Those contact injuries especially to the foot and ankle can take some time to get back from.”

“I’d expect him to be back in contention on the other side of the international break.“

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Tottenham’s injury woes continue

Tottenham have been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, and it appears that this trend has continued under Postecoglou. Last season, over 20 players missed games due to injuries, derailing their campaign after a promising start.

In addition to Solanke, Spurs have already seen Rodrigo Bentancur and Micky van de Ven sidelined this season, with the latter also missing out the match against the Magpies.

Bentancur made a return last weekend, but it remains uncertain whether Solanke and Van de Ven will be available for the derby against Arsenal.

The post “Can take some time to get back” – Injury expert shares update on Tottenham star ahead of the North London derby appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Peter Crouch has named Pedro Neto third among his top signings of the summer, behind new arrivals at West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. 

The Blues were among the Premier League’s busiest clubs, bringing in the likes of Pedro Neto, Joao Felix, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jadon Sancho.

Conor Gallagher, Ian Maatsen, Raheem Sterling and Romelu Lukaku, meanwhile, were among a raft of players to leave Stamford Bridge.

Neto was the most expensive arrival of the summer, costing the Blues an initial £54m from Wolves (per Sky Sports).

And the Portugal international was named third on Crouch’s list of top summer Premier League transfers.

“Pedro Neto from Wolves to Chelsea, I think he’s a top player,” Crouch said when asked to name his top three summer signings on the TNT Sports YouTube channel.

“I think many in Europe would have signed him and Chelsea have got a top one there along with many others, but I think he’s a top signing.”

• Read more: Former Chelsea player left ‘laughing’ at club’s summer transfer business – “It’s becoming ridiculous”

Crouch ranks West Ham and Tottenham transfers above Neto

Crouch then went on to list West Ham’s capture of centre-back Max Kilman — who left Wolves alongside Neto — and Dominic Solanke to Tottenham as his top two deals of the summer.

“Number two, I think Max Kilman at West Ham is a top signing. Very solid, I think he’s shown in the first few games that he brings the ball out, retains the ball really well, top player,” former Tottenham, Liverpool and England striker Crouch continued.

On Solanke, he added: “And I think Dominic Solanke at Tottenham, only because I don’t think they replaced Harry Kane since he left as the focal point.

“I think they’ve got enough ability in and around it but a No.9 at Spurs, once he gets over his injury, I think he’ll score and do the business.”

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Tottenham finally replaced Harry Kane this summer after signing striker Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth.

The Lilywhites made some key additions to their squad this summer and along with Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert, Lucas Bergvall and Min-hyeok Yang, Solanke was added to the team as they aim to solve their goal scoring issues.

The English striker joined the north Londoners in a club record move this summer and he is expected to push Tottenham’s challenge for a top four place in the Premier League.

The stiker is yet to score for Spurs so far this season and his start to life at the Tottenham Stadium has already been affected by an injury.

However, Ange Postecoglou has high hopes from the attacker but that cannot be said about former Watford striker and football pundit Troy Deeney.

According to Deeney, Tottenham should have targeted a move for Ivan Toney instead of Solanke.

He feels Toney, who has now joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli, would have scored more goals at Spurs than Solanke.

Speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, Deeney expressed his opinion about Toney and Solanke.

“Ivan Toney was available, let’s use him as a case in point. Would he add value to Chelsea? Yes, he would score more than Nicolas Jackson. In my opinion he would score more than Solanke at Spurs. Everyone is looking for that mobile, running striker, the goalscoring comes like fifth in the list of attributes,” Deeney said.

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It is a surprising claim from Deeney, considering how prolific Solanke was last season for Bournemouth.

Dominic Solanke can shine at Spurs this season

He scored 19 Premier League goals in a team with no great, creative players and still performed well.

It remains to be seen how Solanke will fit in Postecoglou’s style and how his teammates can get the better out of him.

Toney has started a new journey in the Middle East, far away from the competitiveness of the Premier League.

Son Heung-min played last season as the central attacker for Spurs and scored 17 goals. There is no reason why Solanke cannot do the same for the north Londoners.

The post “In my opinion” – Troy Deeney names striker who would be better for Spurs than Solanke appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that both Richarlison and Dominic Solanke will miss the upcoming Premier League fixture against Newcastle United due to injuries.

In the latest press conference, Postecoglou provided key updates on his squad’s fitness.

The Australian manager revealed that while Solanke, signed from Bournemouth for £65 million, is nearing full recovery from an ankle injury, Spurs will err on the side of caution and hold him back until after the international break.

Ange confirms Richarlison has picked up an injury

Richarlison, the Brazilian forward who has struggled with fitness since joining Tottenham, will also be sidelined due to a muscle injury.

Postecoglou indicated that more information is being gathered on Richarlison’s condition but confirmed that he will not feature against Newcastle.

On a more positive note, Postecoglou confirmed that Rodrigo Bentancur, who suffered a head injury in the season opener against Leicester City, has been cleared to return to the starting XI. Bentancur has passed all required protocols and is fit to play.

Speaking ahead of the game this weekend, Ange said (quotes via Football London):

“Main ones, I guess, Dom Solanke is close but we’ll err on the side of caution, he won’t play on the weekend with the international week, we’ve made a decision to wait until after that.

“Bentancur’s all good, he’s trained well, gone through all the protocols and most important he feels good training-wise.

“Richy pulled up sore, I think there’s a muscle injury there, we’re just getting more information but he’ll be out as well.

“Yeah, that’s it and that’s a challenge, I guess. It’s something we’ve got to look at again. He’s been in that cycle for quite a while and predating me, I guess. We’ve put a lot of thought [into it], we took a really sort of conservative approach with him. He didn’t play in any of the preseason games, and he’s really only played 20 minutes of first team football.”

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Tottenham’s Premier League opener saw them draw 1-1 to Leicester City. However, they responded with a convincing 4-0 win against Everton last weekend.

Ange will be hoping to go into the international break on a high, with their first back-to-back win of the season.

As Tottenham prepare for their clash with Newcastle, Postecoglou and his team will have to navigate these injury issues while relying on the depth and talent within the squad.

The post Blow for Tottenham: Ange confirms another injury ahead of Newcastle clash appeared first on CaughtOffside.

This article was originally published on the Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Charles Watts’ exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service at thedailybriefing.io

Hint of frustration from Leandro Trossard?

Saturday’s win at Aston Villa was huge for Arsenal, especially given the context of what happened against Unai Emery’s side last season.

This was the first away game of the season and with trips to Manchester City and Spurs on the horizon, a win was crucial to give the team an early shot in the arm in terms of belief and confidence.

If Arsenal had lost, everyone would have been talking about Villa getting the better of them again, so there was plenty of pressure on them going into the game.

So the way they came through it was very impressive. Yes, they had to ride their luck at times and had Ollie Watkins had his shooting boots on they may well have ended up losing.

But you have to make the most of what luck you get and Arsenal did that with those two goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey.

David Raya’s save from Watkins at 0-0 was absolutely huge. Trossard’s arrival changed the game obviously, but had Raya not made that save earlier in the second half the game would have been very different.

It was a magnificent stop. Watkins obviously should have done better, but the speed of Raya’s reaction to get himself back up so he could make the save was remarkable.

That’s the second weekend in a row that Raya has made a crucial save for Arsenal. The Spaniard has had a fine start to the season and is really showing his importance to the side.

Trossard was superb after his introduction as well. He’s such a ruthless finisher and he showed that again when he scored with his first touch.

He’s clearly not very happy at starting games on the bench. You could see there was a fair bit of pent up frustration during his celebration and that is understandable.

He’s an excellent player and is undoubtedly Arsenal’s best finisher. I do think he will start against Brighton this weekend, but you can see why Arteta likes to bring him off the bench because his record as a substitute is so good.

All in all it’s been a strong start to the season by Arsenal. If they can manage to make it three wins from three against Brighton on Saturday then they will go into the international break feeling very good about themselves.

Eddie Nketiah expected to join Crystal Palace

I’ll be really happy for Eddie Nketiah if the Crystal Palace deal goes through. At the time of writing this, it’s not done yet, but the expectation is that the move should go through, which will see Arsenal receive up to £30 million for the forward.

It’s a good deal for Arsenal, but I also think it’s a good deal for Palace. I can see Nketiah doing good things for them once he settles in.

Obviously, it looked just a few days ago like he would be going to Nottingham Forest, but Nketiah decided that the move wasn’t really for him after the two clubs agreed a fee.

Some of the reaction I saw to that decision was ridiculous, although I really shouldn’t be surprised anymore by what some people think is fine to say on social media.

A player has every right to decide where he goes. Clearly, Nketiah didn’t think Forest was a good fit and wanted to hold out for Palace, who have long been interested in him.

Providing this deal goes through, he will now get to stay in London as he looks to get his career gaining again. Good luck to him, I hope he does really well there and I think he will.

It’s been a bit of an underwhelming transfer window for Arsenal

It’s tough to say right now whether Arsenal will pull something out of the bag late on in the transfer window. I think they should, because I really believe they are a bit light in terms of attackers.

They have let Emile Smith Rowe go and now Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira are expected to follow him out of the door. I know the three of them played very little football last season, but they were still attacking options that Arteta could have turned to who have now departed.

So I really believe someone should come in to give Arteta another option in attack. If that doesn’t happen, it will feel like a bit of an underwhelming window for Arsenal in my opinion, despite the decent additions of Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.

Nico Williams is a winger we know they like, but that would be a tough deal to get done this late in the window. Yes, he has a release clause which makes it impossible to rule out, but it’s far from clear whether he would even want the move should that clause be activated.

So if Arsenal are to do something, it looks like being one of those surprise signings that potentially catches us a bit off guard.

Arteta did hint that something could still happen after the game against Villa and I’m sure he will be pushing for more because he will want as strong a squad as possible ahead of such a demanding season.

Pedro Neto and Dominic Solanke among the rival signings that stand out

I haven’t really looked around at the business being done by other clubs this summer and felt any hint of jealousy.

To be honest, I think it’s been a pretty average window in terms of the top teams strengthening their options.

I don’t look at anyone harbouring hopes of competing for a top four spot and think they have done much to close the gap to City or Arsenal.

I’m stunned Liverpool haven’t done anything yet. If Pedro Neto stays fit, I think he could be a fine addition to Chelsea, but aside from him none of their captures have really caught my attention.

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It will be interesting to see how Dominic Solanke does at Spurs. I know he cost a lot of money, but he really impressed me last season. He has matured into a good Premier League striker and it wouldn’t surprise me if he scores a decent amount of goals again.

I’m backing Emile Smith Rowe to be a big success at Fulham. He’s already showing what he’s capable of there and he will just get better and better as he gets up to speed.

Another player who has caught the eye in the opening couple of games is Savinho. At £30m he looks like a bargain. Although that’s not really a surprise is it, given where City signed him from.

The post Arsenal transfer news: Trossard frustrated with Arteta, £30m exit close, and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

New Tottenham signing Dominic Solanke will not be fit for Spurs’ first home game of the season against Everton on Saturday his manager Ange Postecoglou has confirmed. 

The striker made his debut for the North London club on Monday night in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City but came away from that clash with an injury.

Postecoglou confirmed to the press on Friday that the 26-year-old picked up an ankle issue and will miss Spurs’ first home game of the season on Saturday against Everton.

“Dom picked up a knock in the last game. He got through the game but it flared up the day after. He’ll miss tomorrow,” the Australian coach said via The Independent.

“It’s an ankle injury. He copped it really early on, someone went across his ankle. He’s definitely out tomorrow.”

This is a big blow for Tottenham as the North London club do not have strong options for the striker role and Postecoglou would have wanted Solanke to get up to speed as soon as possible. The Englishman’s injury means Everton is one less game to do so and it remains to be seen how long the former Bournemouth star is out for.

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Huge season ahead for Dominic Solanke at Tottenham

Solanke joined Tottenham ahead of the 2024/25 campaign as part of a £65m deal with Bournemouth. The striker is the Harry Kane replacement Postecoglou didn’t receive last summer and the Australian coach will hope that he is half as good as the Spurs legend.

The 26-year-old had the best season of his career during the 2023/24 campaign and will now test himself at the highest level.

The Englishman is an intelligent footballer and is expected to make the step up at Tottenham, however, this ankle injury is not the ideal way to start his career at the North London outfit.

The post Big worry for Tottenham fans as new signing has “picked up a knock” confirms Postecoglou appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Leicester City kick off their return to the Premier League by hosting Tottenham at the King Power Stadium on Monday night who are looking to begin a special campaign under Ange Postecoglou. 

The North London outfit experienced a lot of progress under the Australian coach last season and made a flying start to their Premier League campaign, which they will hope to replicate over the coming weeks. However, Spurs dropped off towards the end of the term and ultimately finished the season in fifth.

Nevertheless, Tottenham played some of the most exciting football in the English top flight and some key additions over the summer could see the London team take a big step forward.

Fans of Spurs will hope this is the season that sees their trophy drought end and it begins on Monday night against Leicester.

Postecoglou has picked a team of Vicario, Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Sarr, Bentancur, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke and Son to take on the Foxes, who will be tricky opponents as they return to Premier League life.

New signing Dominic Solanke starts for Tottenham having made the switch from Bournemouth this month and it is the first time to see how the English striker may fit in at his new club following an impressive 2023/24 campaign.

Confirmed Tottenham XI

Your first Spurs team of 2024/25! ?

? @krakenfx pic.twitter.com/NwgfiWmLFW

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 19, 2024

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As for Leicester, following their success in the Championship last season, it has been a difficult summer for the Foxes as they lost their manager Enzo Maresca and their best player Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea.

Steve Cooper had taken charge of the club for their return to the Premier League and this has been viewed as a solid appointment for the 2016 champions given the Welsh coach’s experience in the division with Nottingham Forest.

The 2024/25 campaign is expected to be a tough one for Leicester and they kick it off against a strong opponent in Tottenham.

Copper has picked a team of Hermansen, Justin, Vestergaard, Faes, Kristiansen, Winks, Buonanotte, Ndidi, De Cordova-Reid, Fatawu and Vardy to face Spurs and a win over the North London club could be key to a positive season for everyone at the King Power Stadium.

Confirmed Leicester City XI

Our XI to start our @premierleague season ?#LEITOT pic.twitter.com/KE9ZhGxzfD

— Leicester City (@LCFC) August 19, 2024

The post Leicester City vs Tottenham confirmed team news: Dominic Solanke ready for Spurs debut appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Paul Merson has praised Tottenham Hotspur’s summer signing of Dominic Solanke as they prepare to get their Premier League season underway.

After a strong start to last season, Ange Postecoglou’s side quickly dropped from the top of the table to outside of the top four after sustaining several injuries to key players within the squad.

The biggest conundrum that the Australian manager faced throughout the campaign was the lack of striker options within his squad with the club unable to replace club legend Harry Kane after he departed for Bayern Munich.

Postecoglou found success with Richarlison as the number nine until the Brazilian international sustained an injury with Son Heung-min being deployed up front in his absence.

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However, the club has made sure to add an out-and-out centre forward to their ranks with Dominic Solanke arriving at the North London club for a huge fee.

Speaking on Sky Sports, former Arsenal star Merson praised the signing of the 26-year-old who could be the difference maker for Spurs.

“Solanke could be that difference because teams were starting to push up on Spurs and suffocate them, but Solanke’s pace and his threat in behind can help stretch the game for Postecoglou’s side.” He said.

Tottenham kick off their Premier League campaign against a newly promoted Leicester City side on Monday night with Solanke set to make his debut.

The post Paul Merson hails new Tottenham Hotspur summer signing appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Darren Bent has backed Dominic Solanke to smash the 20-goal barrier in the Premier League this season.

Spurs completed the £55m signing of Solanke from Bournemouth at the weekend in a move that should finally replace Harry Kane, who left for Bayern Munich last summer.

Solanke caught the eye with 21 goals across all competitions last season, including 19 in 38 Premier League appearances.

However, that remains the 26-year-old’s best top-flight return to date, with Solanke only managed 10 goals in his previous 96 Premier League outings prior to 2023/24 for Bournemouth and Liverpool combined.

With that in mind, there may well be worries that last season was a one-off for Solanke, whose only previous seasons breaking double figures (2020/21 and 2021/22) both came in the Championship.

Solanke to break 20-goal barrier in Premier League?

Bent has no such concerns. In fact, the former Tottenham striker — who was a part of the club’s 2008 EFL Cup-winning side — has backed Solanke to break the 20-goal mark in the Premier League alone.

“Dominic Solanke has never hit 20 in the Premier League goals in a season,” Bent told talkSPORT, adding: “For Solanke, 19 goals last season, he’s now ready for that big club.

“He had a little stint at Chelsea when he was young, he went to Liverpool and it didn’t quite happen, but at Spurs, I reckon he will score 20+ goals this season.

“If he can get a first goal early in the season it will give him so much confidence. It just settles everything down if he can score early.”

Solanke should make his Spurs debut against Leicester City on Monday night, with manager Ange Postecoglou insisting he has no reason to suspect a recent minor foot injury will cause a problem.

The post ‘He’s now ready for that big club’ – Spurs fans will love what former striker said about Dominic Solanke appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Arsenal legend Ian Wright thinks Dominic Solanke could have been a good signing for the club, and praised the Tottenham new-boy as potentially the signing of the season.

Solanke enjoyed a prolific campaign for Bournemouth last term and has now made the big move to Spurs, where he’ll be tasked with finally replacing Harry Kane up front for the north London giants.

Still, Arsenal could also surely have benefited from making changes up front this summer after a disappointing campaign from the injury-prone and inconsistent Gabriel Jesus last season, while Eddie Nketiah also saw a lot less playing time as both Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard both had runs out of position up front.

Wright is clearly a big fan of Solanke and admits he wouldn’t have complained if the 26-year-old had made the move to Arsenal, as he feels Tottenham have made possibly one of the signings of the season with this deal.

Solanke transfer praised by Arsenal legend

Speaking about Solanke and Arsenal’s transfer plans on The Overlap, Wright said: “I’m really happy with how pre-season has gone and getting in (Riccardo) Calafiori.

“I know there’s something else in the works for Arsenal, they’re going to try and do something and they have to. They need to get 90 plus points.

“If something comes up they will do it. They need the bench to be better.

“You know, I wouldn’t have been too… that wouldn’t have bothered me if they went for Solanke.

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“With Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli, they lost their place last season but we can probably get the goals from them if they get back to where we know they can be. They’re better than they showed last season.

“Dominic Solanke could be the signing of the season at £65m. I like that move for them and I think he could be a good signing with the way he plays, he doesn’t get injured, he scores goals.”

The post Ian Wright thinks Arsenal may have missed out on “the signing of the season” appeared first on CaughtOffside.