Liverpool will be crossing their fingers after a new report linked Dominic Solanke with a move away from Bournemouth. Newcastle United now want the player.
The Telegraph report that Newcastle United have made an enquiry to Bournemouth about the availability of Dominic Solanke. The Magpies are in the market for a new striker and believe Solanke fits the bill nicely.
And it’s easy to see why. Solanke has 13 goals this season in what feels like a true breakout campaign for the striker. Not only that, but he’s worked with Eddie Howe before when the latter was the Cherries’ boss.
The holdup here is that Bournemouth really don’t want to sell. Solanke has become their star and is playing fantastically well – they’ll be significantly worse without him and finding an able replacement wouldn’t be easy.
On top of that, they’re without several attacking options this month thanks to the Africa Cup of Nations. Letting Solanke go, then, would be an enormous risk of their entire season.
But as everyone knows, massive transfer fees can be convincing. There’s no question that Solanke would command one, given his form, homegrown status and the fact he only turned 26 this season.
That’s where Liverpool come in.
The Reds are the team that sold Solanke to Bournemouth in the first place, receiving £19m for a bit-part player. They also put a sell-on clause in that deal, according to the Liverpool Echo, and will receieve around 20% of any profit on the player.
If Solanke went for as little as £40m – and he could go for far more than that – Liverpool would receieve over £4m. It’s a tidy sum for doing absolutely nothing.
So with that in mind, Newcastle are really only second to Chelsea as the ideal club to get involved here. They’re not short of cash at the moment and not exactly shy when it comes to spending it.
If they’re determined to pay a big price and land Solanke, Liverpool could receive quite the windfall.
