Dominic Solanke joins Bournemouth from Liverpool for £17m

Dominic Solanke joins Bournemouth from Liverpool for £17m

Babatunde Abidoye

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.

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.

“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.”