Former Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke is poised to join Tottenham Hotspur in a transfer worth up to £60 million.
Solanke could become Liverpool’s sixth-most expensive departure as Tottenham nears an agreement with AFC Bournemouth for the striker.
The 26-year-old moved to Bournemouth from Liverpool in January 2019 for an initial fee of £19 million, having spent only eight months at Anfield.
Liverpool have so far received £24 million for Solanke, and as reported by the ECHO in November 2021, all the performance-related add-ons from his transfer to Bournemouth have been met, with most payments already made.
Additionally, the Reds secured a 20% sell-on clause in the transfer deal, which means they are poised to gain a substantial sum from his recent high-value transfer to Tottenham.
Although the clause applies only to the profit from the original transfer fee, Bournemouth is set to sell Solanke for £41 million more than they initially paid in 2019. Therefore, if the sell-on clause is applied to the profit from the initial fee and the transfer fee is indeed £60 million, Liverpool could receive an extra £8.2 million.
Even if it only applies to profit after accounting for the add-ons, Liverpool would still get £7.2 million.
As a result, Solanke’s total transfer fee when leaving Liverpool is expected to exceed £30 million, potentially reaching £32.2 million, which is £13.2 million more than his original fee.
Currently, Solanke is Liverpool’s 10th most expensive sale, with the add-ons pushing his total to £24 million, surpassing both Danny Ings and Rhian Brewster on the list of record sales.
He may now also surpass Sadio Mane, Christian Benteke, Xabi Alonso, and Mamadou Sakho.
Benteke was transferred to Crystal Palace for an initial £27 million, rising to £32 million with add-ons, in August 2016. Mane’s move to Bayern Munich was valued at up to £35 million in June 2022, but since his subsequent season was disappointing, many of the add-ons from the initial £27.5 million fee were not triggered.
Alonso was sold to Real Madrid for £30 million in August 2009, while Sakho was transferred to Crystal Palace in a £26 million deal in August 2017.
Only Philippe Coutinho (£142m), Luis Suarez (£65m), Fernando Torres (£50m), Raheem Sterling (£49m), and Fabinho (£40m) were sold for higher fees than Solanke in Liverpool’s history.
Joe Gomez’s £45 million transfer to Newcastle United fell through in June, which would have involved a swap deal with Anthony Gordon moving in a separate £75 million transfer.
Considering that Coutinho, Suarez, Torres, Sterling, and Fabinho were all key players for Liverpool, securing potentially £32 million for Solanke—a fringe striker with just one goal in 27 appearances—makes the deal even more impressive compared to his initial £19 million transfer five and a half years ago.
Solanke initially struggled at Bournemouth but excelled after their relegation to the Championship, scoring 30 goals across all competitions to aid their promotion back to the Premier League on their second attempt.
He continued this impressive form in the Premier League last season, netting 21 goals in 42 appearances, which drew Tottenham’s interest. Solanke will depart Bournemouth having scored 77 goals in 216 appearances for the club since leaving Liverpool in 2019.
