From Jermain Defoe, to Robbie Keane, to Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur have been blessed with a string of truly elite centre-forwards in the Premier League era, the club so often boasting a prolific figurehead to lead the line.
Since Kane’s exit in 2023, however, things haven’t exactly gone to plan on that front, with a succession of forwards all underwhelming at N17.
It still beggars belief that it took until a year after the England skipper’s exit for a genuine replacement to be signed, with Dominic Solanke joining on a then club-record £65m deal from Bournemouth.
To say it hasn’t worked out for the England international is an understatement, however, with a replacement or at least a genuine competitor needed this summer.
Why it’s time for Spurs to move on from Solanke
When the Lilywhites landed Solanke from the Cherries back in 2024, it felt like a statement signing at the time, with the Englishman fresh from having scored 19 Premier League goals at the Vitality Stadium.
He had never scored more than six goals in a single top-flight season prior to that, however, following his muted prior stints at both Chelsea and Liverpool.
It had been in the Championship where Solanke had largely proven himself, scoring 44 league goals across 2020/21 and 2021/22, that latter form helping to propel the Cherries back into the Premier League.
Those goalscoring heroics sadly haven’t been replicated at N17, the Ange Postecoglou signing ending his debut Spurs season with only nine league goals to his name from 25 starts.
That was followed by just three goals in 2025/26, a season so frustratingly ravaged by injury for the 28-year-old, as he made only 11 top-flight starts.
|
Solanke – PL Record |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Games (Starts) |
Goals |
|
25/26 |
15 (11) |
3 |
|
24/25 |
27 (25) |
9 |
|
23/24 |
38 (37) |
19 |
|
22/23 |
33 (32) |
6 |
|
19/20 |
32 (17) |
3 |
|
18/19 |
10 (2) |
0 |
|
17/18 |
21 (5) |
1 |
Set to turn 29 in September, Solanke isn’t exactly a long-term project either, having been expected to come in and hit the ground running in north London.
Like Richarlison and co before him, it simply hasn’t panned out that way, hence why a new centre-forward signing is on the agenda.
Spurs handed boost in race to sign £90m Premier League star
It’s all about the midfield in 2026, although last year proved to be the summer of the striker, with a string of Premier League clubs making marquee signings in that department.
Viktor Gyokeres moved to Arsenal, Benjamin Sesko joined Manchester United, and Joao Pedro was snapped up by Chelsea. For Liverpool, meanwhile, both Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak entered the building.
Spurs weren’t in the market on that occasion, although with their rivals having already spent big on number nines, it could leave them with something of a free run this time around.
Indeed, while the Gunners also remain in the mix by all accounts, it does appear to be Roberto De Zerbi‘s side who are leading the race for Eli Junior Kroupi, with one reliable Spurs insider revealing that the young Frenchman has expressed his desire to join the club.
That comes after what were said to be ‘positive talks’ with the 20-year-old’s representatives, with it likely to now be a case of whether ENIC can strike an agreement with Bournemouth, amid claims it could take as much as £90m to seal the deal.
Of course, signing Solanke from the south coast side hasn’t gone to plan, yet Kroupi would present far more of a long-term investment, while his stunning rise over the last 12 months or so is hard not to be impressed by.
In 2024/25, for instance, the then-Lorient starlet had hit 22 goals in France’s second tier, before sealing a £12m switch to England ahead of the 2025/26 season.
What followed was a real breakout year for the youngster, setting the record for the most goals scored by a teenager in their debut Premier League campaign (13).
That came with Kroupi having missed only three ‘big chances’, while boasting a remarkable 25% goal conversion rate. In Solanke’s final season at the club, he missed 17 ‘big chances’ and had just a 17% goal conversion rate.
He’s slight in frame and stature, but there’s a clinicality to Kroupi’s game that makes him such an attractive prospect, almost Defoe-esque in the way in which he can rifle home from range.
Defoe – once a young starlet on loan at Bournemouth himself – was such a force in his Tottenham pomp, such a natural goalscorer. To my mind anyway, he’s still a man that somewhat gets overlooked when discussing elite modern strikers in the Premier League, with his tally of 162 goals in the competition nothing to be sniffed at.
The ex-England man could score from any range and any angle, so deadly inside 18 yards too, with Kroupi cut from similar cloth. Indeed, he’s been hailed by Thierry Henry as being “very Jermain Defoe-like when he’s in the box“.
That viewpoint has also been echoed by Bobby Zamora, a man who actually left Spurs to join West Ham United as part of the deal to sign Defoe in 2004.
“He reminds me of a Jermain Defoe: quick backlift, quick strikes, and only really interested in scoring goals. He scores all different sorts of goals, too.”
That likeness no doubt bodes well for what Kroupi can produce in a Spurs shirt, with De Zerbi’s side crying out for a new attacking figurehead heading into next season.
