Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has addressed the absence of Dominic Solanke during their pre-season friendly clash with Rayo Vallecano.
The Cherries beat their Spanish opponents 1-0 at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike from Luis Sinisterra, who recently made his loan move from Leeds United permanent.
However, Solanke missed Sunday’s clash, with his absence coming amid intense speculation that he could make a summer move to Tottenham Hotspur off the back of a 21-goal 20232/4 campaign, which included 19 strikes in the Premier League.
However, Iraola has poured cold water on any fears that Solanke missed the game due to an imminent transfer, revealing he merely picked up a foot injury in training but should be back to face Girona on Saturday.
“Someone stamped on his (Solanke’s) foot yesterday and we are not going to risk him in a pre-season friendly, and I hope he is going to play in the next game against Girona,” Iraola told Sky Sports News.
“[It’s] nothing big [Solanke’s injury], just that he couldn’t put the boot on, and we decided obviously to [not risk him]. Even with other players, I hope they can play against Girona and we can see them. They are really close, they had some small issues, like Justin Kluivert and Lewis Cook.
“With so many players and so many games it doesn’t make sense to take any risks and we decided like this.”
Asked about the perception of Solanke missing the match amid the transfer rumours, Iraola responded: “It’s not in my control. I tell you what has happened and I’ve seen it happen. It’s the reality.
“It’ll probably make it bigger, but the truth is Dom came today and we decided it doesn’t make any sense to risk him in a friendly but it’s not a big injury, I’m not worried because he will be fine in three of four days.”
He’s crap his record is shocking if he was that good Liverpool would never got rid of him he’s had half a good season n it wasn’t that good if u look at starts n stats it was poor should of been double the goals n assists David n gimenez r the two we should big for but solanke all round package is the cheapest facts
If, anyone thinks Solanke is worth more than £15m then they`ve never seen him play. I agree ,he`s not good enough for a team looking for top four. He`s currently at his right level at Bournemouth
Solanke is not for spurs there are better strikers out there who would cost less
If…and its a big IF spurs can even think of paying 65mil
for solanke who isnt half as good as Toney then why do we always go for 3rd best?