Pundit questions Tottenham over huge £30m overspend on ‘risky’ summer signing

Former England striker Michael Owen has questioned Tottenham’s biggest piece of transfer business this summer while also recognising it was a signing they needed to make.

The north London have needed to bring in a top-class No.9 ever since Harry Kane quit for Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023, despite already having Richarlison on board.

However, it was very clear Ange Postecoglou wanted more competition centrally despite the Brazilian having an improved campaign last time out with 12 goals to his name.

Countless names were linked with a switch to Tottenham but it was Bournemouth frontman Dominic Solanke who eventually made the move when he joined in a club-record £65million deal.

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The England frontman, who bagged 19 Premier League goals last season, made his debut for the club in the 1-1 draw at Leicester in the Monday Night Football.

And, despite missing two or three strong chances to get off the mark in a Spurs shirt, he at least showed how much of a goal threat he can be with his pace and movement.

Unfortunately for Solanke he suffered a knock in that game and was forced to miss Saturday’s clash with Everton as well as potentially next weekend’s trip to Newcastle.

Solanke a costly risk for Tottenham

But when asked his thoughts on Solanke’s move from the south coast to the capital, it’s clear that Owen has mixed feelings on the big-money transfer with the fee clearly the biggest sticking point.

He told Premier League Productions: “It’s promising, it’s exciting. Last season was a very good one for him. He’s got attributes we feel that would suit Spurs.

“When I first heard Solanke to Spurs. I thought ‘yeah, I like that. I see that’, but then I heard about the fee and I thought ‘oh, that’s chunky. I thought that’s quite heavy’. I thought he might be a £30-35 million player.

“But hey, if they wanted, were desperate for him and they needed someone in that position. He is proven in the Premier League. Proven to score goals.

“He works hard off the ball. There are a lot of boxes that he is ticking. He’s not an unknown signing. A risky signing. So, I do like the signing, I just thought it was a little bit pricey.”

Pricey it might be but Solanke, despite his misses on his debut, is a perfect fit for how Postecoglou wants his team to play.

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His pressing from the front compliments the high defensive line Tottenham like to employ while he also has the pace to get in behind and the ability to link play with the clever creative players Spurs have in the final third.

For him, hopefully the injury is not that serious and he gets back into action quickly and off the mark as soon as possible to prove any potential doubters wrong.