Ange Postecoglou has got his man.
The Australian manager of Premier League side Tottenham wanted a new star striker, 12 months on from the departure of legendary club and England captain Harry Kane.
Now Spurs are on the brink of signing their number one target – Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth – according to widespread reports.
Solanke has a £65 million ($A126m) release clause, but a deal could be struck for slightly less according to some reports. Regardless, it will smash Bournemouth’s club record.
Solanke, a Chelsea academy product who struggled to impress at Liverpool, enjoyed the finest season of his career, with 19 Premier League goals seeing him unlucky to miss out on an England call-up for the Euros.
Just as impressive as his goalscoring form was his link-up play, crucial to Postecoglou’s free-flowing attacking approach.
Postecoglou said on Friday: “I have always felt that if you get the recruitment right then whoever it is hits the ground running.
“We signed Mickey van de Ven three days before the first game last year against Brentford and we threw him straight in. He literally hit the ground running.
“We are trying to identify players who fit into our style of football. There will be a bit of adjustment but hopefully they will already have those qualities to come into the group and contribute straight away.
“That is my expectation when we sign someone. They will be ready to contribute from the moment they arrive.”
Yet he emphasised that any new signing would not bear the weight of replacing club legend Kane.
“We showed last year that we were still a threatening team going forward without Harry. We are talking about a generational talent here, he was never going to be replaced, but invariably there will always be comparisons,” Postecoglou added.
“It’s pretty evident from the way we play that we are never going to be reliant on one player. When we are up and running we can score from many different areas.
“Hopefully the striker, when he is playing in our system, is a beneficiary of that as well as a contributor.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s overfull squad looks set to be stretched even farther with the club set to sign winger Pedro Neto from Wolves.
It would be their ninth arrival of the window, with the club desperately needing to offload some of their almost 45 contracted players.
Chelsea reportedly agreed a deal worth up to £54m ($A105m) for Neto, and are also closing in on the signing of striker Samu Omorodion from Atlético Madrid for a reported £34.5m.
24-year-old Portuguese international Neto has struggled with injuries over the last three seasons but boasts plenty of talent and impressed at the Euros.
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