EXCLUSIVEDominic Solanke reveals what Didier Drogba, Mo Salah and Diego Costa taught him, how he'll fire Tottenham back into the Champions League and his World Cup dream
- Dominic Solanke has set his sights on playing for England at the 2026 World Cup
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The symmetry was impossible to escape as Dominic Solanke stood once more in anticipation on more or less the same patch of Wembley turf.
Back in an England shirt, poised to win his second cap, ready to come on as a second-half sub against Greece just as he had done when making his debut against Brazil.
Seven years older, wiser for all that has happened in between. Bigger, stronger. A better striker, he agreed, more complete, and determined to be part of England’s future.
‘I’ve been through a lot,’ admits Solanke, 27. ‘I’ve learned a lot. I’ve grown, on and off the pitch. My game has improved since that first cap. I’ve matured, filled out. I’m a lot stronger.
‘Back then I was quite young, and it was a friendly. This one, I was a bit older and in competition. Probably more excitement than nerves this time. You just want to get on because representing your country, it’s a dream.
Dominic Solanke has been through a lot of the course of his career but is hitting his peak form at Tottenham
Solanke earned his second England cap - seven years after his first - against Greece last week
‘When you’re young looking up at the top players, they’re all doing it for their countries. And there’s so many players that to be one of the selected few is a huge achievement. Every time you get the chance it’s something to cherish so I’m thankful for the opportunity again. I’ve worked hard to get back so it was a joy.’
This was Solanke’s second coming as an England international. His first featured a haul of 72 caps at various youth levels, the pinnacle of which was England’s victory in the Under 20s World Cup in South Korea, where he scored four and won the Golden Ball, the prize for the best player.
Previous winners included Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona. ‘Nice to brag about,’ he says with a smile when reminded how Rodrigo Bentancur, now a Tottenham team-mate, played in the same tournament for Uruguay. ‘I’ll never forget, that’s one of my greatest achievements. Hopefully there’s more to come.
‘It’s a long season and I need to keep playing for Tottenham, doing well for the club, and hopefully there will be more opportunities to play for England.’
Solanke kept his shirt from last week’s game against Greece and intends to frame it and hang it alongside the shirt already on his wall from his debut in 2017.
Solanke has now set his sights on playing for England at the next World Cup in 2026
Solanke suffered relegation at Bournemouth but has never stopped believing in himself
The forward was keen to help out with a five-a-side tournament run by Tottenham's community coaches for aspiring players
Among his first tasks on his return to Tottenham’s training centre was to help out at a five-a-side tournament run by the club’s community coaches for aspiring players aged 16-18 from around north London. He mingles, chats and picks up a microphone to field their quick-fire questions. Idol? Didier Drogba. Toughest opponent? Virgil van Dijk. Most gifted team-mate? Eden Hazard.
Biggest setback? Relegation with Bournemouth. Advice? Keep going and believe in yourself. Ambition? To try to be at the next World Cup.
At their age, Solanke had been tipped for stardom by Jose Mourinho, who named him as one of three Chelsea teenagers he expected to reach the top. The others were Lewis Baker and Izzy Brown. ‘My conscience tells me that if Baker, Brown and Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself,’ said Mourinho three months before handing Solanke his senior debut as a sub in a Champions League game against Maribor.
It is a decade this week since that first glimpse of the young Solanke. Baker, meanwhile, is at Blackburn on loan from Stoke. Brown retired in April last year after a succession of injuries.
‘When a manager like that says those things it’s great to hear,’ says Solanke. ‘A bit of added pressure but he obviously said it for a reason. I have good memories from there.’
Solanke was singled out for praise along with fellow Chelsea starlet Izzy Brown (pictured left)
Solanke revealed he looked up to Didier Drogba when he was coming through Chelsea's ranks
It would prove to be Solanke’s sole appearance for Chelsea. He spent the next season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem and Mourinho had been sacked by the time he returned. Antonio Conte was in charge and Solanke ran down his contract to leave for a better pathway to the first team.
He joined Liverpool in 2017, then Bournemouth 18 months later, having failed to make an impression at Anfield.
‘In life, there’s always things that can happen that are out of your control,’ says Solanke. ‘I believe everyone’s journey is different and you’ll get to where you want to be if you keep working hard. That’s my mindset.’
A philosophy that has helped him ride the setbacks and keep learning from some of the iconic forwards around him. ‘Growing up at Chelsea, Drogba was the main guy,’ he recalls. ‘A great person to look up to. He was very honest when I trained with them, doing a drill he’d point stuff out and express what was on his mind. He wouldn’t just not say anything. I’m thankful for that.’
Then there was Diego Costa. ‘One of the funniest people I’ve met in football. A crazy personality, always pulling pranks. Players like that are important just to lift the mood. And what he did at Chelsea meant he was another to look up to.’
Solanke also tried to learn from Diego Costa during his early days at Stamford Bridge
Solanke says it was a joy to watch Mo Salah when the pair were together at Liverpool
At Liverpool, there was the famous front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah, who signed in the same summer as Solanke and scored 44 goals in his debut season as Liverpool reached the Champions League final, losing to Real Madrid.
‘They were a joy to watch and be around,’ says Solanke. ‘The clubs I’ve been at, there’s been some great players who’ve hit crazy form and hit their prime.’
This season, eyes are on Solanke expecting him to do the same. He reset during five and a half years under five different managers at Bournemouth.
Since the start of 2021-22, he has scored 61 goals in 133 games including his first three for Tottenham, who paid what could become a club-record £65million, backing his talent to blossom in the void left by Harry Kane.
Solanke has started to find his feet at Tottenham, but the team have had mixed results
Solanke wants to fire Ange Postecoglou's side back into the Champions League
That comes with pressure, although Solanke shrugs. ‘Pressure is part of football. At a bigger club there’s added pressure but everybody wants to play for the biggest clubs so that pressure is a privilege.’
Can he seize this chance? Up front in a team designed to attack freely, can he leave his mark at an elite level now he is bigger, better, more complete?
‘Being at a club like Tottenham, that’s what we all want to be a part of,’ he says. ‘We’re in the Europa League, but the Champions League is where everyone wants to be.’
Perhaps it would close a circle for Solanke, having made his Chelsea debut in the Champions League and watched Liverpool go close to winning it in 2018, to lead Spurs back into Europe’s elite. ‘Hopefully we can reach that next season, and even better to win that. I love the way we play. It’s one of the reasons I came here.’
Dominic Solanke was speaking at Tottenham Hotspur’s training centre during a five-a-side tournament for aspiring young footballers organised through the club’s education and football development centres. Find out more here
