Jermain Defoe has expressed his admiration for Tottenham’s new striker, Dominic Solanke, and highlighted Solanke’s potential impact in North London following his summer move from Bournemouth for £65 million. Solanke, now 27, has shown promise in his early days at Tottenham, netting three goals and providing two assists in his eight appearances this season. His strong performances also earned him an England call-up for the first time since 2017, although he did not get playing time in the recent match against Greece.
Reflecting on Solanke’s potential, Defoe stated: “I think for him, he just needs to just focus on playing well and improving. He’s nicked a couple of goals now, which is good. He got off to a slow start and after three games, people were sort of questioning the signing. But I think that’s just part and parcel of football really, every player’s had it. If you’re playing well then everyone loves you. He’ll score goals because of the way Tottenham play, they create a lot of chances. So it’s just up to him to take them. He’s just got back in the England squad, which is good. I know he didn’t get any minutes, but just to be amongst it is good. Ivan Toney’s gone to Saudi, so there’s a space there. You’ve got Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins who will always be involved.”
In assessing Tottenham’s overall performance this season, Defoe conveyed optimism for the club’s campaign thus far. He remarked on the contrasting start compared to last season, when Tottenham garnered significant attention for their style shift under new management following Antonio Conte’s tenure.
Defoe said: “It’s early days, I think. There’s a long way to go. Last season, the first 10 games of last season, people were making a lot of noise about Tottenham, with the way they were playing and stuff like that, because it was different from under Antonio Conte. Ange came in and changed the style. He came with his sort of like philosophy, and the players have bought into that straight away. The new signings had hit the ground running. And this season they’ve not had the same start, but at the same time, I do feel like it’s still early days. It’s a long season, but I wouldn’t say it’s been the same start as last season. When you look at the [Manchester] United game, you saw signs there that it’s a team going in the right direction.”
