Arguably, the most challenging position to replace in the modern game is striker, and up until very recently, that wasn’t something Tottenham Hotspur had to worry about.
For years, the North Londoners knew they could rely on the incredible Harry Kane to put the ball in the back of the net, so the most they had to worry about was finding a good backup.
That wasn’t the case in the seasons before the Englishman became the star he is today, and so, under former manager André Villas-Boas, they signed who they hoped would be the player who’d lead the line for years to come.
Unfortunately, that’s not near what happened, and to make things worse, the player in question earned more than summer signing Dominic Solanke earns today, and by all accounts, he looks set for success in N17.
Dominic Solanke's journey to Spurs
Solanke has endured a fascinating journey to where he is today, a journey that started at Chelsea’s Cobham academy, where he was part of the England U20 World Cup winning team of 2017 alongside the likes of Marcus Rashford, Dominic Calvert Lewin and even Ademola Lookman.
That same summer, the Basingstoke-born marksman opted to join Liverpool on a free, hoping for more opportunities in the first team.
However, after 27 middling displays, the Merseysiders felt it better to sell the young striker to Bournemouth in January 2019 for an enormous profit of £19m.
Unfortunately, the forward’s career on the south coast did not get off to a great start.
In his first season and a half, the Englishman scored just four goals and provided two assists in 46 appearances and was relegated to the Championship.
Fortunately, life in the second tier allowed the promising talent to get better, and over the following two campaigns, he racked up an impressive tally of 45 goals and 16 assists in 93 matches and played a vital role in the club’s promotion in 2022.
Once back in the top-flight, the former Chelsea prospect needed time to adapt, and after producing a reasonable haul of 14 goal involvements in 22/23, he exploded in 23/24, scoring 21 goals and providing four assists in just 42 games for the Cherries.
This impressive form led to the Lilywhites splashing £65m on him in August, and considering he’s already scored six goals and provided three assists for the club, it would be fair to say he’s more than justifying his £90k-per-week wages, which is not something that can be said about the costly flop signed by AVB in 2013.
The costly Spurs flop signed by AVB
So, it might not come as a surprise that the player we are talking about is, of course, Roberto Soldado.
The former Spanish international joined Spurs in the summer of 2013 for a then-club-record fee of £26m, and while that sounds like too much today, it made sense at the time.
See, across the two prior campaigns, the Valencia star had scored a whopping 57 goals and 11 assists in 97 matches, which worked out to a goal involvement every 1.42 games on average.
Unfortunately, as many fans will remember all too well, that form did not follow him to England, and throughout his two seasons in North London, he could only muster up a tally of 16 goals and 11 assists before he headed back to Spain to join Villarreal.
What made his disappointing stint with the Lilywhites even worse was the money involved, as the Valencia-born star was paid around £106k-per-week, which looks outrageous now we know how ineffective he was and how much the club are currently paying Solanke.
Transfer Fee
£26m
Wages
£11m
Total
£37m
Appearances
76
Cost per Appearance
£486k
Goals
16
Cost per Goal
£2.3m
Assists
11
Cost per Assist
£3.3m
Goal Involvements
27
Cost per Goal Involvements
£1.37m
When added up, he cost around £11m in wages, so when we include his fee as well, the 39-year-old ended up costing Tottenham a massive £37m.
When broken down, that comes to around £486k-per-appearance, £2.3m-per-goal, £3.3m-per-assist and £1.37m-per-goal-involvement, which cannot be described as value for money in any way whatsoever.
Ultimately, Spurs have signed their fair share of disappointing forwards in their time, but given his form in the seasons before and the money he cost, Soldado has to be right up there as one of the worst.
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1 ByJack Salveson HolmesNov 26, 2024