The reasoning behind Tottenham's bid to sign Manor Solomon

 

New goalkeeper? Check. New creative midfielder? Check. Another winger? All-but done if reports are to be believed. We're three days into July and Tottenham have already corrected a couple of problem areas. Guglielmo Vicario has joined as Hugo Lloris' successor between the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium sticks, while James Maddison is a fine addition from Leicester. 

 

For their new winger, Manor Solomon looks set to swap west for north London. A knee injury restricted the 23-year-old to just 19 league appearances last season, 15 of which were from the bench, and the impact of Willian on the left flank meant Solomon registered 563 minutes of game time during his loan spell at Fulham. Nevertheless, the young winger maximised his time on the pitch, ending the season with four league goals to his name; of the 100 players to score at least four Premier League goals last season, the incoming Spurs man boasted the sixth best mins per goal record in the division. 

 

Solomon was set to return to parent club Shakhtar Donetsk this summer, however, FIFA in May extended its temporary employment rules relating to the war in Ukraine, which means Solomon can cancel his deal with Shakhtar Donetsk and sign for Spurs as a free agent. Given the pair face off in a pre-season friendly in the capital next month, there could prove a sting in the tail in this one... 

 

Nevertheless, Solomon is a solid capture for free, and one that provides cover and competition for Son Heung-Min on the left flank. He's also a handy alternative to the South Korean wideman and affords Ange Postecoglou the relevant personnel to change tact in the final third if required. Whereas Son is one who'll look to make runs in behind the opposition defence in the way the Australian boss likes his wingers to operate, Solomon is one who looks to cut infield and go for goal. 

 

Two of his four league goals last season were with his right foot as the cut inside to find the far corner. Back-to-back goals against Wolves and Leeds back in February were nigh-on identical, and matched the above approach. What's more, Solomon was hugely effective when he did chance his luck having returned a conversion rate of 36.4%, that better than any of the 219 players to muster more than 10 shots in the 2022/23 Premier League campaign. 

 

 

As such, Postecoglou has options to tinker with his attack line should needs must, and depending on the opponent. Son may be one who'll make direct runs from the left, but Solomon will himself look to use the space from the left to the middle to pick a pass to the back post or chance his luck at goal. With the former, the full-backs will seek to make diagonal underlapping runs to create a numerical advantage in a key area of the pitch, while they'll instead overlap Solomon to potentially utilise the space he opens up when he does cut infield. 

 

It's proven an effective route to goal for Solomon, who has a knack for beating an opponent with relative ease. Indeed, an average of three successful dribbles per 90 ranked fourth of those to make more than 15 Premier League appearances last season, reinforcing a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'dribbling'. 2.9 of the 5.9 he attempted overall may have been unsuccessful, but the sheer determination to get the better of a marker is one that'll appease supporters. 

 

What will also aid in getting the fans onside is the hard work Solomon puts in off the ball to help pressure defences and ultimately ease pressure on the backline. Another of his WhoScored strengths is 'defensive contribution' and for good reason with a return of 3.4 tackles per 90 the eighth best in England's top tier last term. A crucial facet of this is that it's a small sample size to work with, but for a Spurs side that often looked lackadaisical out of possession, an attacking player who is happy to put in the yards is key.

 

In addition, Solomon won possession in the attacking third every 141 minutes in the Premier League last season, which would have ranked fourth of all current Spurs players. Given Postecoglou liked his players to press high up the pitch to help create chances, this is an additional quality to Solomon's game that will have appealed to the north London side. 

 

The downside of Solomon's impending arrival, though, is that this impacts Spurs' homegrown quota, which was part of the reason behind the pursuit of David Raya as Lloris' replacement. It's something that the club need to be wary of between now and the end of the transfer window, particularly as Spurs still need to sign at least two more centre-backs this summer, and have been linked with Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven of Bundesliga pair Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg, respectively. 

 

That being said, the acquisition of Solomon on a free transfer is a low-risk, high-reward addition to the squad that means Postecoglou can tinker with his frontline where needed to ensure the right approach is implemented to help Spurs break down opponents.

The reasoning behind Tottenham's bid to sign Manor Solomon