Dominic Solanke joins Bournemouth from Liverpool for £17m
Dominic Solanke has signed for Bournemouth in a £17m deal, less than 18 months after he joined Liverpool from Chelsea. The 21-year-old had attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs this month, including Crystal Palace, who pulled out of a loan move for the striker because of concerns about his fitness in the short term. Bournemouth, however, were open to signing Solanke on a permanent basis and Liverpool accepted an offer that could rise with various add-ons.
Chelsea are also expected to profit from the transfer. It is understood they had a sell-on clause inserted as part of the deal that was reached in 2017, after the two clubs eventually came to an agreement without the need to go to a tribunal.
Solanke featured 27 times for Liverpool last season, but all except six of those appearances were from the bench and he scored only once, against Brighton on the final day. He has not played at all this season and has recently been recovering from a minor injury.
A prolific goalscorer at youth level, Solanke is highly regarded within the England setup and made his senior debut as a substitute against Brazil in November 2017. His club career has never really taken off, but both Solanke and Bournemouth will hope that all changes now he has moved to the south coast.
.@DomSolanke has sealed a permanent transfer to @afcbournemouth.
Everybody at #LFC thanks Dom for his contribution to the Reds and wishes him the best of luck for the future. 🙌 https://t.co/kCo6wqpzWX— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 4, 2019
“Dominic is technically gifted, very athletic and has the physical profile that will give us something different in our front line,” Eddie Howe, Bournemouth’s manager, said. “He has done very well for England at various age groups, has a huge amount of potential and I’m really excited about working with him.”
Solanke will be joined at Bournemouth by Nathaniel Clyne, who has signed on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season having fallen down the pecking order at Anfield behind Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez. The England defender has played only five times this season and managed only a similar number in the previous campaign because of a back problem.
The impact of the 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever since his arrival from Ajax in September is another factor in Clyne’s departure. The highly-rated Netherlands Under-17 international has impressed Jürgen Klopp since being promoted from the Under-18s to the first-team squad to cover for recent injuries to Gomez and Alexander-Arnold. Hoever is being considered for a place in the Liverpool squad for Monday’s FA Cup third round tie at Wolves.
