Ange Postecoglou has admitted that Tottenham look for players who can make an instant impact in the summer transfer window, especially with the striker role.
After weeks of speculation, Tottenham have finally got a big-money signing with Premier League experience through the door, with Solanke arriving at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the back of an exceptional season for Bournemouth.
With the 26-year-old enjoying tremendous success with Andoni Iraola’s high-pressing, possession-based approach, one would expect his transition to Tottenham to be relatively straightforward.
When asked if the new striker coming through the door needs to hit the ground running, Postecoglou told Football.London: “To a certain extent. I have always felt that if you get the recruitment right then whoever it is hits the ground running. We signed Micky van de Ven three days before the first game last year, against Brentford, and we threw him straight in. He literally hit the ground running.
“We are trying to identify players who fit into our style of football. There will be a bit of adjustment but hopefully, they will already have those qualities to come into the group and contribute straight away. That is my expectation when we sign someone – they will be ready to contribute from the moment they arrive.”
Postecoglou insisted that Tottenham are not trying to directly replace Harry Kane, although he acknowledged that any new signing will have to deal with those inevitable comparisons.
The Australian pointed out that his side coped relatively well with the loss of the England captain last season, with the goals being spread through the side.
He added: “We showed last year that we were still a threatening team going forward without Harry. We are talking about a generational talent here, he was never going to be replaced, but invariably there will always be comparisons.
“It’s pretty evident from the way we play that we are never going to be reliant on one player. When we are up and running we can score from many different areas. Hopefully, the striker, when he is playing in our system, is a beneficiary of that as well as a contributor.
“It was a fairly sizeable hole to breach. It would have been referred to a lot more if we had struggled, there’s no doubt about that. It suggests we did a pretty good job collectively as a group.”
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There is no doubt that Solanke would find it much easier to adapt to Postecoglou’s system than someone like Ivan Toney, with the 26-year-old proving last season that he is ideally suited to playing in a high-pressing system.
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