Paul Merson believes Tottenham’s club-record signing Dominic Solanke will score 20-plus goals this season.
Signing a world-class striker was a top priority for Ange Postecoglou’s team heading into the summer transfer window and they were in long-drawn negotiations with Bournemouth to secure the signature of Dominic Solanke. In the end, Spurs forked out a club-record £65 million to sign the former Liverpool ace.
He made his debut for the North London club in their opening fixture of the season against Leicester City but picked up an ankle injury which kept him out of their last two outings. While it hasn’t been an ideal start for the 26-year-old striker, Paul Merson believes once he starts scoring he could end up with more than 20 goals in his debut season for Spurs.
In his column for Sky Sports, the former Arsenal striker wrote: “Dominic Solanke is a good signing and takes Tottenham to another level.
“What he’s got to get used to is if you miss a few good chances then you’re under the microscope.
“With no disrespect, when you’re playing for Bournemouth and you miss three chances, there are no headlines about it. He’ll have to get used to being at a big club and putting his chances away.
“When he starts scoring, I think he could get 20 goals this season whereas Arsenal might be short of a centre-forward. I’m not sure they did enough in the transfer window.”
Merson believes Solanke is an exceptional signing for Tottenham and once he gets going, the teams could find it very difficult to contain the English international. But first, he needs to get used to the fact that if he misses a few chances at Spurs he will be under the microscope.
While he has missed their last two outings because of an injury, the 26-year-old is expected to be fit in time for the North London derby against Arsenal. He will be eager to take the field against Mikel Arteta’s team and scoring his first goal for Tottenham against the Gunners could be a dream start for him.