HUGE BENEFIT: Liverpool will net £9.6m thanks to the 20% sell-on clause they negotiated in the deal that took Solanke to Bournemouth

Liverpool can repeat lucrative transfer masterstroke as £60m deal agreed

Dominic Solanke has proven to be one of Liverpool’s biggest transfer successes from a purely financial point

Richard Hughes sporting director of Liverpool during his first press conference at AXA Training Centre on

Liverpool spotted a transfer opportunity when they moved for Dominic Solanke seven years ago. Sold for a hefty profit after just 18 months, it would be one of the most lauded deals under Michael Edwards’ watch.

But now history could be about to repeat itself for the Reds as one of Arne Slot’s first-team players continues to be linked with a move away.

Solanke was aged 19 at the time of his move to Anfield. Out of contract at Chelsea and, with first-team opportunities limited, had no intention of staying put at Stamford Bridge.

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The Reds agreed to sign the highly-rated striker in May 2017, with the then-teenager being officially confirmed as a Liverpool player in July. But despite being out of contract, they still had to agree a compensation fee with the West London-based outfit – due to him being under 24 years

Liverpool had initially valued Solanke at around £3m with Chelsea demanding closer to £10m. Initially unable to come to a compromise, talks dragged on throughout the 2017/18 season and had looked to be decided by the Professional Football Compensation Committee.

However, further discussions between the two clubs resulted in the issue being resolved directly between the Reds and Chelsea by June 2018. Despite reaching an agreement, the fee remained undisclosed, with Liverpool remaining tight-lipped over the price paid for the strikers’ services.

Solanke had made 27 appearances during his first season at Anfield, starting six times and scoring once. On the bench in the 2018 Champions League final, he was also named in 23 further matchday squads, with such senior involvement under Jurgen Klopp justifying his decision to leave Chelsea.

However, such opportunities ultimately dried up the following year following Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi’s returns from loan. An unused substitute just once, in a League Cup defeat to former club Chelsea, he saw a loan switch to Crystal Palace collapse at the start of January 2019.

Two days later, and just six months after Liverpool had come to an agreement with Chelsea regarding his transfer fee, he left the club permanently in a £19m switch to AFC Bournemouth – ironically signed by new Reds sporting director Richard Hughes.

Despite not playing for half a season and his original fee remaining undisclosed, Liverpool had made a considerable profit on the then 21-year-old – who had stood out at youth level but was yet to fully find his feet to top-flight football.

In truth, this remained the case for a number of years at the Vitality Stadium. He failed to score in his first half-season with the Cherries before netting just three times in the Premier League as they were relegated in 2019/20.

While he was prolific in the Championship, scoring 44 goals from 86 appearances over the next two seasons, it was then a similar case when Bournemouth won promotion back to the Premier League as he netted just six times in the English top-flight in 2022/23.

By this point Liverpool had long since pocketed most of the add-ons they were entitled to from the original deal that took Solanke to the South Coast, with the fee rising to £24m as a result.

But while it initially looked like an excessive fee, Solanke proved himself to be worth every penny for the Cherries last season as he scored an eye-catching 21 goals from 42 appearances in all competitions. And such form is now set to earn the 26-year-old a whopping £60m move to Tottenham Hotspur.

Such a signing has certainly paid off for the Cherries. While they have had to be patient to see the best of the striker, he fired them back into the Premier League before his top-flight performances opened the door to becoming their club-record sale at a hefty profit.

The Reds are set to earn a windfall as a result of such a switch also, courtesy of a 20% sell-on clause that they negotiated in the deal that took Solanke to Bournemouth in the first place. While his Liverpool career was ultimately brief and unspectacular on the pitch, he has arguably proven to be one of their most successful transfer deals when viewed from a purely business point of view.

Financially, it’s a deal Reds bosses would no doubt like to replicate. And Fabio Carvalho’s uncertain future at the club could enable Hughes to recreate this lucrative transfer trick.

Signed from Fulham in the summer of 2022, like Solanke five years earlier, the highly-rated youngster was out of contract with a West London club. Helping the Cottagers win promotion to the Premier League, the then 19-year-old agreed to join Liverpool when his contract expired, with the Reds paying an initial £5m compensation fee, rising to £7.7m with add-ons.

Yet the Portuguese would struggle to make an impact during his first season at Anfield, making 21 appearances, scoring three goals, but only starting eight times. Meanwhile, he’d feature for just nine minutes in the Premier League and Champions League in 2024.

Sent on loan to RB Leipzig, he also struggled to make an impact in the Bundesliga before returning to the Championship with Hull City on a temporary basis. There he rediscovered form with the Tigers, returning nine goals and two assists from 20 appearances before returning to Liverpool this summer.

Now 21 years old, he has impressed new head coach Arne Slot in pre-season. Starting on the left-wing, he has started throughout the summer, and scored in friendly wins over Arsenal and Manchester United.

But with Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo now back in pre-season training, it seems inevitable that his starting opportunities will remain limited with the jury out on whether he remains stuck between Premier League and Championship.

Carvalho is attracting interest, with Liverpool already rejecting a verbal £15m offer from Southampton. Not willing to sanction another loan exit, it would require a much more substantial fee for them to consider selling.

Unlikely to accept less than £20m, such a fee would already act as a considerable mark-up on their original investment. And with the Reds likely to negotiate add-ons and a sell-on clause in any deal, further windfalls would also be within their grasp.

Solanke took his time to prove his worth in the Premier League, and is now set to be rewarded with a big-money move. Should Carvalho move on in search of starting football, he will hope he can establish himself in the Premier League and follow a similar career trajectory.

Not every Liverpool signing works out and not every youngster cements their place in the Reds first team.

“Some will be here, some will go on loan, some will be sold,” Klopp said of the club’s next generation back in May. “That’s all part of the thing. The basis we created is really good and that was the job I thought and how I understood that I had to do.”