The 2024-2025 English Premier League (EPL) season is finally here.
Manchester United and Fulham kick off the action at 4 a.m. ET on Sept. 17. Tottenham will open the season away at Leicester City, who have been promoted from the second tier to the top flight in a single season, at 4 a.m. ET on the 20th.
Head coach Enze Postecoglou held his pre-match press conference on Friday. Changes have been made. Tottenham added Dominic Solanke to their squad this summer, joining Archie Gray and Lucas Verbal.
The biggest change has been the loss of Harry Kane. Tottenham lost Kane to Bayern Munich last summer. However, Postecoglou opted to play Son Heung-min and Michy Batshuayi in a front three with no reinforcements, with Dejan Kulicepski joining him at the end of the season.
Solanke had a £65 million ($114 million) ‘buyout’ clause. Tottenham agreed a £55 million fee with a £10 million option to buy from Bournemouth.
Expectations are high.
Solanke was the first question for Postecoglou. “Fortunately, it’s what we expected, he’s a top professional, a good person, and he’s settled in really well in the dressing room. “Football-wise, you can see that Solanke has the attributes that fit what we want to do really well.” ”There is still an adjustment period because we play a little bit differently and train differently. But so far he has adapted really well to the group and the training. We still have a few more training sessions before the first match. So far, so good.”
When asked if Solanke would play, 사설 토토사이트 Postecoglou didn’t hesitate for a second, saying, “He will play.” A former Chelsea youth product, Solanke joined Bournemouth in January 2019 from Liverpool. After making just 27 appearances for Liverpool, his value exploded at Bournemouth, where he scored 77 goals in 216 appearances.
Solanke scored his first double-digit goals in the EPL last season. He finished tied for fourth in the league with 19 goals, two more than Son Heung-min (17). Solanke became the first Bournemouth player to win the EPL Player of the Month award last December.
Solanke’s return to full training comes as a welcome boost to the squad.
He also had an offer from the Saudi Arabian league this summer, but turned it down.
“I had offers, but my dream is to play for the Brazilian national team. To do that, playing in the Premier League is more conducive,” he said, adding, ”The money is big, but my dream is bigger.”
Tottenham would be out of options if he decides to stay, as he is contracted to the club until June 2027. Tottenham paid Everton £60 million in the summer of 2022 to sign him from Everton.
But in his first season in the EPL, he scored just one goal in 27 appearances. He played 1006 minutes. He seemed to bounce back last season.
With ‘Captain’ Son Heung-min away at the Qatar Asian Cup, he scored his first double-digit goals (10) in the EPL since joining Tottenham. But when Son returned, he fell silent again. The attacking points disappeared.
And on May 6 against Liverpool (2-4 loss), he was gone. A calf injury ended his season prematurely. In his second season, he scored 11 goals in 28 EPL games. He has played “zero” preseason games due to his injury.
Postecoglou said of him, “He’s fine. He’s training with us normally and he doesn’t feel the effects of the injury at all, which is really positive for us. But he needs to work on his match fitness over the next few weeks.”