Tottenham Hotspur are looking to bring a high-profile No.9 to north London – just months after signing Dominic Solanke.
The England man joined Tottenham in a £60 million deal over the summer, as the long-awaited replacement for club-record scorer Harry Kane, who left the summer prior. But stepping into the shoes of the England captain – ranked at No.7 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League strikers of all time – has been a tall task for the former Chelsea and Liverpool man.
Through little fault of Solanke's, Spurs are currently seventh in the table with their form fluctuating wildly by the week. Now, it looks as if chairman Daniel Levy could be about to bring in another striker to rectify matters.
Tottenham are chasing proven Premier League goal-getter to supplement Solanke
The Lilywhites have a wealth of attacking options with versatility across the frontline. Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Wilson Odobert and Dejan Kulusevki are all options out wide.
Son Heung-min, meanwhile, has functioned both as a centre-forward and a left-winger – but is out of contract in the summer.
Despite Solanke only able to function centrally and Ange Postecoglou using a lone striker, Fichajes in Spain have reported that Tottenham are interested in bringing Ivan Toney back to London.
The former Brentford striker was on the radar for several top Premier League clubs, with Tottenham mooted as an option – before his leftfield move to the Saudi Pro League.
Signing Toney would not only almost certainly spell the end of seeing Son up front, however, it would likely see Solanke's minutes heavily reduced.
In speaking to FourFourTwo exclusively last month, however, Solanke's former manager, Andoni Iraola said that he expected the target man to leave the Vitality Stadium after strong form and that he deserved the chance to play at a higher level.
“I think it was always a strong possibility that he’d leave, not after just the goals that he scored but the performances he had last season,” the Bournemouth boss said. “He was very consistent. He wasn’t called up for the Euros – and that didn’t help us much: it made it hard to convince Dom to stay.”
In FourFourTwo's opinion, it's highly unlikely that Tottenham's interest in Toney is serious. The North Londoners had the opportunity to sign him in the summer on wages much smaller than those he's currently earning, and with Solanke a similar profile – who hasn't done anything wrong so far in a white shirt – we would be shocked if Toney replaced him up front.
The 28-year-old is valued at €50m by Transfermarkt. Solanke faces former employers Bournemouth with Tottenham on Thursday, as Premier League action returns.
