Tottenham's chief 2024 summer transfer target Solanke does it again at West Ham

By Alessandro Schiavone at London Stadium

Dominic Solanke showed Tottenham once again that he's their man and potentially the response to bitter rivals Arsenal luring Ivan Toney to the Emirates Stadium in the summer.

In the creditable 1-1 draw at London Stadium against West Ham, it took the red-hot Englishman only three minutes to put Andoni Iraola's Cherries in the driving seat. All he had to do was bury a wayward backpass from Kalvin Philips who fluffed his lines when pressed by Ryan Christie.

Impressively, Solanke has already netted 13 times, with each and every of those Premier League goals coming from open play.

The former Chelsea youth player offered the complete package in that he dropped deep, broke quickly, linked play and made the Hammers defenders uneasy with his off-the-ball movement. If only he had a better assistance from his wingers Marcus Tavernier and Antoine Semenyo he could have hurt West Ham probably further.

Before going anonymous in the second-half, the towering centre-forward had come close to turning from goalscorer to provider when he twice slipped in Antoine Semenyo. But Alphonse Areola showed once again why David Moyes made him his no.1 at the start of the campaign with a string of top drawer blocks.

He has already more than doubled last season's tally of six, having needed 12 fewer games to do so and sits third in the goal charts, one goal behind joint-top scorers Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.

This is the sort of upturn of performance and fortunes you can expect to get from an out-of-contract player in a bid to put himself in the shop window.

But as recently as five months ago he signed an extension that keeps him at The Vitality until 2027.

That's what strikes. But nobody would bat an eyelid if he lights up the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next term.

And there are few better ways of endearing yourself to your potentially new supporters with a goal against their bitter rivals.