Done: Liverpool Confirm First Summer Signing To Land Highly-rated Striker – Player To Arrive On July 1st

Liverpool have confirmed the capture of Chelsea’s Dominic Solanke, whose contract expires soon. The youngster has refused to sign a new deal at Stamford Bridge and will move on a fee decided by a tribunal to join the Reds, as he is still not 23-years old. It was revealed by Sky Sports that the deal has been done and that Solanke will join Liverpool once his contract at Chelsea expires.

This will remind the fans of the long drawn saga regarding Danny Ings as he too made his way from Burnley after completing his contract at the club. The fee for Solanke would be around £3million as Chelsea would be liable for compensation.

While this isn’t an earth-shattering transfer news, it does provide an insight into what Jurgen Klopp and his team are thinking. Solanke would be a decent buy considering his great record while playing at the youth levels for Chelsea and England.

The 19-year-old scored 11 goals in 14 England U17 appearances and has slowly progressed through the ranks of the national squad and at the Blues.

Where would Solanke fit in?

Given that he struggled for goals while playing for Vitesse Arnhem in the Dutch league, the youngster would star in the reserve side or the U23 team. Solanke’s return of just 7 goals from 25 matches while playing for Vitesse would be a concern for many and he isn’t a solution for our lack of a proven striker.

The Englishman was once touted as the best prospect at Chelsea but a lack of first-team chances seems to have stunted his growth at Stamford Bridge. Klopp does want to keep a core group of young English players and we have seen that the German wants to give academy players a chance in the first team.

There are many other strikers who would be ahead of Solanke in the pecking order, such as Ben Woodburn and Rhian Brewster but if the Chelsea man can bang the goals in for fun, he might get fast-tracked into the first team next season.