Dominic Solanke Set for First Spurs Start Since Injury

Roberto De Zerbi believes Dominic Solanke is finally ready to step back into the spotlight – and he might have to, given how blunt Tottenham have looked in front of goal.

The striker has played just 114 minutes in all competitions this season, a bafflingly small return for a club that has failed to score in any of its first three Premier League games. On Saturday evening, against Everton, that could change.

Solanke’s long road back

Solanke has not started a game for Spurs since he hobbled off just 40 minutes into last season’s crucial 1-0 win away at Wolves with a hamstring injury. That night underlined how important he was; the months that followed showed how much he was missed.

The 28-year-old then spent most of the rest of the campaign wrestling with a recurring ankle problem. He did not feature at all in Tottenham’s final four matches, reduced to a spectator as De Zerbi’s side clung on to Premier League status on the final day.

A full pre-season was supposed to reset everything. Instead, caution took over.

Club medics, working closely with De Zerbi, opted against rushing Solanke back, wary not only of his recent muscle and ankle issues but also of jet lag concerns around his training load and travel. Under performance director Dan Lewindon, Spurs have overhauled their medical and performance operations and have been especially conservative with players who carry a history of breakdowns. Solanke sits firmly in that category.

The result: a key centre-forward with barely a game and a half under his belt while the team in front of him fires blanks.

De Zerbi: “He’s crucial for us”

That stand-off looks set to end. Asked when Solanke will be ready to start, De Zerbi was clear. The former Bournemouth forward is in line to be named in the XI either against Everton on Saturday or at home to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday.

“I think he is close. He’s a crucial player for us, Dom Solanke. For the characteristics, personality, level of the player,” De Zerbi said.

“He’s very close after two times on the bench – Newcastle and Nottingham – he could start the game. Or, anyway, Tuesday, he can start the game.”

The message was unmistakable: the wait is nearly over.

Goals dry up, pressure cranks up

Spurs are still searching for their first league win of the season. Performances, De Zerbi argues, have outstripped the results, but the table does not record aesthetics. It records goals. Tottenham do not have any.

The stalemate at Nottingham Forest last weekend underlined the problem. De Zerbi’s side controlled long spells but carried little threat, running out of ideas in the final third and never truly convincing they would force a breakthrough.

All this while a proven finisher sits on the bench, watching.

Johnson returns, exits looming

The narrative grows sharper with the visitors on Saturday night. Brennan Johnson, Spurs’ top scorer in the 2024/25 campaign before he was allowed to join Crystal Palace in January, is now an Everton player and is expected to line up at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs have already waved goodbye to an extraordinary amount of firepower in recent seasons. Heung Min-Son and Harry Kane were sold. Johnson was moved on mid-season. Now the club is working on a potential exit for last term’s leading scorer, Richarlison, with Brazilian side Vasco Da Gama pushing hard to take him back to his homeland.

On paper, that is a remarkable drain of goals. De Zerbi, though, refuses to panic about what has gone out of the door.

“Solanke didn’t play many games. I hope Solanke can be available this season more than last season. Marmoush didn’t play for Tottenham last season,” he said.

“Savio didn’t play last season for Tottenham. And then all players they have to… Mathys Tel has to improve. Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray. Now he is 22 years (old) and he has to push, to show.

“Because the level of football is you show who you are and what you can do, or you lose the level. I think we can score goals with this squad, but we have to see.”

Time to show up

That is the crux of De Zerbi’s challenge. He has backed the club’s decision to reshape the attack and trusted a new generation of forwards. Now he is demanding a response.

Solanke, Marmoush, Savio, Tel, Bergvall, Gray – different profiles, different stages of their careers, same instruction: prove you belong at this level or risk being left behind.

For Solanke, the equation is even simpler. Spurs are desperate for a focal point, for a presence who can turn sterile possession into something more ruthless. The manager has called him “crucial”. The medical team has finally loosened the reins.

Everton at home. Liverpool in the cup. Two games in four days, both crying out for a striker to grab them.

If Solanke really is “very close”, this is the moment he has to step through the door.