Dom Solanke was once one of the brightest young stars at Chelsea. In Jose Mourinho’s second spell, he named the striker as one of the jewels in the academy.
He was ahead of Tammy Abraham in most people’s thinking when it came to deciding who was the better long term prospect
The Telegraph today has a really interesting interview with Solanke, who was at the Chelsea academy until 2017, when he opted to turn down a big new deal and move to Liverpool in search of playing time.
It hasn’t worked out since, and he struggled just as much for minutes there as he had at Stamford Bridge. These days, watching Tammy score his way into the England squad, Solanke – now at Bournemouth – must feel a twinge of regret.
“I definitely wanted to break through but it got to a point where I just wanted to try and play,” Solanke admitted.
“People might think I was impatient but I was just a young boy who wanted to play football.”
His feeling on his old mates making the grade at Chelsea are very positive too –
“What’s happened you could never have predicted it, really,” he said of the wave of young players taking over at his old club.
“It’s fantastic for those boys. They managed to get their chance now and they have taken it. It’s a good thing because the club needed something like that to happen. The talent that comes through the ranks at Chelsea is amazing and now the world can see that.”
It’s just a shame you can’t be part of it Dom.
