By Katie Catherall
Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke insists that transfer speculation linking him with Arsenal and Chelsea is just "part of football".
Solanke enjoyed a successful 2023/24 season on the south coast, registering 21 goals in 42 appearances for Andoni Iraola's side. His success saw Bournemouth reach 48 points in the Premier League - two more than their previous club record set in 2016/17.
The 26-year-old's goalscoring has unsurprisingly attracted the attention of others, with both Arsenal and Chelsea rumoured to be interested ahead of the summer transfer window. Indeed, each London club is in need of a new 'number nine' ahead of next season. However, he seems plenty happy with how things are at at Bournemouth, not expressing any desire to move.
"When you do well, there's always going to be that speculation. Speculation, it's part of football really. But, I'm happy here and I've had a great season here," Solanke told the Daily Echo.
Recent reports have revealed that Solanke's current contract contains a release clause worth £65m, a figure that may prove too high for interested clubs.
Bournemouth would view a move for Solanke as a huge loss, with the player comfortably leading the line as the club's top scorer in 2023/24 - 19 Premier League goals, compared to eight Antoine Semenyo and seven for Justin Kluivert in second and third respectively.
The forward, despite his success in front of goal, did not get a place in England's Euro 2024 squad, with Brentford's Ivan Toney and Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins preferred as attacking options. Solanke has just one senior cap for his country, playing in a friendly against Brazil back in 2017.
Solanke made the move to Bournemouth in January 2019 after an unsuccessful spell at Liverpool. His had started his career at Chelsea, where he was part of the academy at Cobham, an origin story similar to that of Mason Mount, Reece James, Declan Rice, Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi.
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Dominic Solanke reacts to ongoing Arsenal and Chelsea transfer gossip.
