Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has described the conflict of emotions he felt when selling Dominic Solanke in the summer to Tottenham for £65m, after such a successful season at the Vitality Stadium.
Having finished with 48 points in the 2023/24 season, Bournemouth recorded their best-ever tally in the English top flight. Solanke proved a huge part in that success, though, scoring 19 Premier League goals, so losing him certainly made things more difficult at the beginning of this campaign.
Regardless, the club were expecting interesting in their star striker.
Bournemouth boss Iraola happy for Solanke to challenge himself
“It was always a strong possibility that he’d leave,” Iraola concedes to FourFourTwo. “Not after just the goals that he scored, but the performances he had last season. He was so consistent.”
The fact the move went through on August 10, just a week before the start of the season, did make things harder to deal with. But despite losing such a complete striker, Iraola almost welcomed the move – for Solanke, as much as anything.
“He wasn’t called up for the Euros, and that didn’t really help us – it made it hard to convince Dom to stay,” Iraola adds.
“There’s part of you as a coach where obviously you don’t want to lose him because your job becomes harder. But there’s a part of you that wants him to go to a higher level, to do well and get the recognition he deserves. Even though he plays for Spurs, we’re all still cheering for him and we’re glad he’s back in the national team.
“It’s a challenge for us all. We have to replace not just his goals but everything he gave to us with different kinds of players. Everyone has to contribute.”
Bournemouth have replaced Solanke well, with Evanilson arriving for a club-record £40m. With the Brazilian up front and other players improving, the Cherries are undoubtedly fighting for Europe and are well on course for an even larger points haul than their best-ever last term - breaking the 50-point barrier is certainly within sight.
