Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that record signing Dominic Solanke will wear the number 19 shirt in his first season at the club.
Solanke’s move from Bournemouth, which could cost Spurs £65 million if all additional signings are completed, was confirmed last Saturday.
He was initially not given a squad number upon his arrival, but with the 2024/25 Premier League season officially starting on Friday, Tottenham have now announced Solanke’s shirt.
The striker will wear the number 19 shirt, which became vacant earlier this summer when Ryan Sessegnon returned to Fulham on a free transfer.
Before Sessegnon, Spurs cult hero Mousa Dembele wore the number 19 during his six-and-a-half-year stay in north London. Players such as Sebastien Bassong, Adel Taarabt, Andy Reid and Chris Armstrong had previously worn it.
Solanke has never worn the number 19 in his career, often opting for the traditional number 9 striker shirt. However, that number belongs to Richarlison, who has insisted he will not leave Tottenham this summer.
After a full first week of training, Solanke is set to make his debut for Tottenham when the team travel to newly promoted Leicester City on Monday evening.
Head coach Ange Postecoglou confirmed that Solanke could start at the King Power Stadium and was impressed with the striker this week.
“Fortunately, it is as we expected. He is a top professional, a good guy, he has settled in really well in the dressing room,” Postecoglou said at a press conference on Thursday.
“From a footballing point of view, you can see that he has the qualities that fit in with what we really want to do well. There is still a period of adjustment, as we play a little differently and train differently, and we have seen that with every new signing.
“So far he has integrated really well into the group and training. We still have a few training sessions ahead of us, but so far it’s going well.”
