The Premier League might have been a struggle, but Dom Solanke is starting to become the forefront of Bournemouth’s promotion bid

Having struggled to make a name for himself in the Premier League with Bournemouth, the Cherries’ relegation in the summer has given striker Dom Solanke the chance to reform his career at the Vitality, and the Englishman is certainly succeeding at that.

With eight goals in 18 Championship appearances thus far, the 23-year-old has had a decent start to the 2020/21 season with the Cherries, who are competing in the second-tier for the first time in five years. However, what is more impressive is the fact that six of Solanke’s goals this term have come in his last seven appearances. 

Having started out at Chelsea as a youngster, the striker was one of many youngsters at the club to be sent out on loan, heading to Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem on loan for the 2015/16 season. Solanke couldn’t break his way into what was then a Chelsea outfit who had won the Premier League twice in three years and thus left on a free transfer. Surprisingly though, Jurgen Klopp saw potential and snapped up the front-man in the summer of 2017.

Again, at a big club with significant squad competition, Solanke struggled to get regular game time and eventually opted to take a step down in the Premier League, signing for Bournemouth mid-way through the 2018/19 season for a fee reportedly just shy of £20m. 

With Callum Wilson the main man upfront for the Cherries, game time was scarce for the then 21-year-old, who made ten Premier League appearances for the south-coast club and two appearances in the Premier League 2.

In what was a tough season for all of those involved at AFC Bournemouth last term, Solanke was shown more faith from manager Eddie Howe, regularly coming off of the bench for a decent amount of time if he wasn’t starting games. 

The goal drought was prolonged though until an FA Cup third-round clash with Luton Town which saw Solanke find the back of the net for the first time in a Bournemouth shirt, almost a year after signing for the club. Three Premier League goals would follow, all after the restart, but they weren’t enough to keep the Cherries in the top-flight and thus their five-year-long fairytale was concluded.

With Callum Wilson sold to Newcastle in the summer, Solanke was highlighted to be the main man for Jason Tindall’s side, starting all but one of their Championship outings so far this season. Bournemouth fans would’ve been forgiven to think earlier on in the campaign that the 23-year-old wouldn’t be the prolific striker they needed in order to eject themselves out of the second-tier, scoring just twice in the first 11 games. However, Bournemouth’s upturn in form has correlated directly alongside Solanke’s.

On Tuesday night, the Cherries take on a Wycombe Wanderers side who are still taking some time to settle in the second-tier. 

Gareth Ainsworth’s side are competing in the Championship for the first time in their history and have picked up just 11 points from their opening 18 games, seeing them sat in 23rd, but only two points off of safety. 

Without a win since early November, the Chairboys’ form is a polar opposite to that of their opponents, who have won five of their last eight league outings, drawing a further two. The Buckinghamshire club will also be particularly wary of their hosts’ most recent result, a 5-0 thrashing of Huddersfield Town. 

With Bournemouth now sat in the automatic promotion places, you would be forgiven to expect a comfortable victory for the hosts on Tuesday night and for Dominic Solanke to add to his goal tally. However, can Wycombe warrant a win on the south-coast and provide a dent in the Cherries’ promotion charge?

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