DANNY MURPHY: Dominic Solanke has the edge over his England rivals
Dominic Solanke already has 12 Premier League goals this season. If he reaches 20, I think Gareth Southgate will be tempted to take him to Germany as back-up for Harry Kane at Euro 2024.
England may name three strikers in their squad. Ollie Watkins is currently ahead of Solanke but I’d put the Bournemouth striker ahead of Callum Wilson and Ivan Toney.
As for Marcus Rashford, we don’t know which version we’ll see in the next few months.
Solanke has an edge over some of his rivals which is often overlooked — he is tried and tested as an England tournament player.
Most people don’t place much significance on international experience with younger age groups but I think Gareth does. I agree with him: representing England at the Under-20s World Cup helped me make the transition into the senior team, and Solanke has scored goals and won trophies for his country at different age levels.
As a player, he has many assets that makes him attractive to top clubs as well. He’s quick, a good finisher and he can link up play, important to our Champions League teams.
His aerial ability is something Arsenal lack and he’d be an upgrade at his former club Chelsea on Nicolas Jackson or Armando Broja.
That’s not to say it wouldn’t be a calculated risk. Solanke has hit a purple patch over a few months; to be really proven you’d like to see him maintain that over two or three years. Having said that, you’d imagine he’d get more goalscoring chances at a top-six side than he does at Bournemouth — as pleasing on the eye as they are.
Chelsea fans might need to be won over by the idea. He left them at 19 without making an impact so they might not be hugely excited.
I admire Solanke for leaving Liverpool to join Bournemouth in 2019. I imagine Eddie Howe made
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