Rejection in English leading club sides; Chelsea and Liverpool, Dominic Solanke says only fired him up to be a better player, writes TAIWO ALIMI
Dominic Solanke, the tall Bournemouth of England striker, does not like to be drawn into talk about his Nigerian parenthood.
The 22-year-old prefers to talk about his career; how a freakish Reading boy of mixed parentage (Nigeria and England) has made it into the senior national team of England after surviving rejection from Chelsea and Liverpool.
A confident young man whose time in Bournemouth that he joined January 2019, has yielded no goal, Solanke insists he has made the best choice in leaving UEFA CL champions Liverpool. Liverpool is also cruising home to win the 2020 EPL League after 30 years.
Speaking over criticism for leaving Liverpool prematurely, he said:
“I think every footballer just wants to play. That was what I had in mind when I left Liverpool. There is no regret here. You want to show what you can do and I’m definitely doing well here. I have playing time and the senior national team has spotted my talent. I look forward to playing more important role here (Bournemouth).”
He said the success of his friend and England teammate, Jadon Malik Sancho, also helped him take the leap to Bournemouth.
“That Sancho’s success at Dortmund has affected everyone. When one young player sees another young player doing what they think they can do as well, especially when everyone is playing at international level together. Sancho is doing well in Germany and a lot of players would like to follow his path. What he’s done, getting into the England team at such a young age, it will influence a lot of young players.”
Solanke joined Bournemouth in the January transfer window after becoming frustrated at his lack of first-team football at Liverpool.
Solanke had recorded a 17-minute substitute appearance for Chelsea youth side and in October 2014 followed by 21 appearances, 16 of which came off the bench. But, he was locked out of the senior team, prompting his loan deal to Vitesse in the Eredivisie. He returned to the Premier League in May 2017 for Liverpool but that also did not amount to much as he scored only one goal in 21 appearances. Thereafter, he was frozen out.
However, he did score seven goals in 25 Eredivisie appearances during a loan spell at Vitesse and was also a key part of the England U20 squad who won the World Cup in 2017. As such, Bournemouth came for him with a 19million Euro offer.
Though he got his playing time at Bournemouth playing 33 times, Solanke is still burdened by his goal drought since 2019 for his team.
He hopes breaking his year-long goal-scoring duck can kick-start his Bournemouth career.
“It’s been tough. I’ve been a striker all my life, scored a lot of goals – to not score for quite a while is always going to be difficult,” he told Bournemouth’s website.
“I’ve had to do what I’ve had to do for the team, keep trying to help the team.
“I wanted to get that first one and hopefully that can boost my confidence and I can build on that now.
“It’s a big team boost. We needed that after the last few weeks and hopefully we can build on that now,” said the one-cap England international.
“I think it will be good for the team.”
He is, however, happy with his achievement at Bournemouth. “We have made our mark in the EPL and we deserve respect.” He was especially happy with the win at Stamford Bridge in December.
“I’ll give them a bit of stick for winning. A lot of the boys (at Chelsea) I’ve known for years from my time there,” Solanke told the Daily Echo.
“I’ll give them a bit of stick for winning on Saturday!”
The game remained goalless before Solanke’s introduction, in place of Joshua King with 15 minutes to play.
Solanke said: “I think the game was still open (when I came on).
“They (Chelsea) were pushing for a goal and we saw the opportunity.
“They didn’t have many numbers at the back so I think even myself got in a few times. We managed to get the goal and settle the game.
“I think there’s no point in just sitting off and not going for the game when you can see that there are a few chances and you can maybe nick the win and we did that.
“I think probably in the last five or 10 minutes before half-time we just wanted to get into half-time and make sure that we still had the game level.
“Then in the second half everyone put themselves about from the back to the front and we managed to get that goal at the end and see out the game, which we haven’t quite done in the last few weeks.
“That victory at Chelsea gave us hope and we have taken more points after that. It has helped us to believe in ourselves. Of course we can do better.”
Bournemouth remains in the bottom rung of the EPL table.
GROWING UP
I remember vividly my mum and stepfather and my brothers and sister. The family atmosphere helped me to adjust with a clear head to football. I started playing at soccer Brighton Hill Community School. My parents told me I could do whatever I set my mind to and that was important to me.
MOTIVATED BY TERRY
When I was in Chelsea Academy, I had the good opportunity of meeting John Terry one-on-one. It remains one of my best memories because he was a legend to many youngsters of my time. He spoke nicely to me. Abramovich just took over the club at that time and he made us in the academy feel very proud that we are a part of the club. I remember that Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek who are integral part of the team now were in that group.
I won many awards at the academy. One of them is the academy player of the year award. I was also noticed by the England U17 gaffer who invited me to camp. And in 2014, I was part of the team that won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. I also scored a few goals to cart home the tournament’s joint top scorer.
VITESSE
I did not want to leave Chelsea but I desired playing time and they agreed I could go on loan to Vitesse. While in the Netherlands, things went well for me as I scored vital goals for the team. That brought back my confidence and when I came back to Chelsea I expected more playing time but it did not come. That made me to move to Liverpool and the main reason I moved on from Liverpool too. I think every footballer just wants to play. That was what I had in mind when I left Liverpool. There is no regret here. You want to show what you can do and I’m definitely doing well here. I have playing time and the senior national team has spotted my talent. I look forward to playing more important role here (Bournemouth).”
BOURNEMOUTH’S GOAL DROUGHT
It’s been tough. I’ve been a striker all my life, scored a lot of goals – to not score for quite a while is always going to be difficult. I’ve had to do what I’ve had to do for the team; keep trying to help the team. I wanted to get that first one and hopefully that can boost my confidence and I can build on that now. It’s a big team boost. We needed that after the last few weeks and hopefully we can build on that now. I think it will be good for the team.
SOLANKE’S PROFILE
Solanke started his career with Chelsea, making his first-team debut in October 2014. Solanke spent the 2015-16 season with Vitesse on loan in the Eredivisie. He signed for Liverpool in July 2017.
Solanke was called up by the senior team for the first time in November 2017 for a friendly against Brazil at Wembley Stadium. He came on as a 75th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw.
Solanke has represented England at all youth, under-21 and senior levels.
He helped his country win the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup and received the Golden Ball award for best player in the latter tournament.
In 2014, Dominic rose to glory and came into prominence as was part of the under-17 team that won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship where he was the tournament’s joint top scorer with four goals in four appearances.
Having started his career with Chelsea in the under-8 team, he managed to score 20 goals in 25 appearances in the under-18 team.
Solanke signed his first professional contract with Chelsea in September 2014 and eventually became the youngest player to debut in the UEFA Champions League for Chelsea.
He finished as top scorer in the group stages of the UEFA Youth League after scoring a hat-trick in the final group stage match against Sporting CP ending the tournament as Chelsea won the title, where he managed to score 12 goals in nine appearances.
Solanke joined Eredivisie club Vitesse on a season-long loan to gain first-team experience, where he ended the season with seven goals in 25 appearances, just three behind top scorer.
In 2016-17 season, After rejecting many loan offers from several clubs, Solanke was retained as Chelsea’s third-choice striker.
On 30 May 2017, Solanke agreed to sign for Premier League club Liverpool on 1 July upon the expiration of his Chelsea contract for around £3 million.
For the 2014–15 season, Solanke was awarded the inaugural Chelsea Academy Player of the Year award In January 2015, Solanke was named the England Men’s Youth Player of the Year for 2014. Solanke was awarded the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament in the 2017 Under-20 FIFA World Cup.