Bournemouth's surprise Golden Boot-contender Dominic Solanke finally showing why Chelsea and Liverpool fans were so excited by him

Solanke was a genuine phenomenon at under-age level. He won two FA Youth Cups and a UEFA Youth League title with an outstanding Chelsea side that also featured Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham.

Mourinho even went so far as to say that if Solanke didn't become an England international during his time in charge of Chelsea, it would mean that he had failed the centre-forward. It was, as Solanke told GOAL, "a nice thing to hear from a top manager like Mourinho", who also made the Reading native the youngest Chelsea player to appear in the Champions League when he brought him on in a group game against Maribor in October 2014. However, it would be the only appearance he would ever make for the Blues.

"I'd had a couple of really good seasons in the youth team, and I wanted to test myself in the men's game," he explained to GOAL, "but it was so difficult to make that transition, especially back then." Indeed, at the time, Chelsea were renowned for not only producing promising players - but also blocking their path to the senior squad.

Consequently, Solanke decided against extending his stay at Stamford Bridge, opting instead to join Premier League rivals Liverpool in the summer of 2017. "They’re such a big club and I knew they wanted to give young players opportunities," he said. "I think that's what drove me to go there."

The problem at Anfield, though, was the competition for places was even more intense, as Liverpool had just assembled a frontline of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane that would eventually prove itself arguably the finest attacking triumvirate the Premier League has ever seen.

Despite an encouraging start to his Reds career, with Solanke still buoyed by his Golden Ball-winning exploits during England's Under-20 World Cup triumph, his only goal of the 2017-18 season arrived in the final-weekend rout of Brighton.

He didn't feature at all for Liverpool during the first half of the following campaign, with injuries becoming a major issue. As Klopp subsequently lamented, whenever an opportunity arose for Solanke to start, more often than not he was sidelined by one of a series of niggling injuries.

So, when Bournemouth bid £19 million ($25m) for Solanke's services during the 2019 January transfer window, everyone involved felt it was an offer too good to turn down.

"For Dom, it was absolutely right to go," Klopp acknowledged. "He trained pretty well, but you cannot stay confident over that long a period [without playing], especially not in his age group. He didn't play a lot for Chelsea and so he needed to play football now."

It was a view shared by Solanke. Still, while his move to Liverpool may not have gone according to plan, he has always insisted that he does “not have any regrets”.

"The front three when I was there were just phenomenal - I don’t think anyone would have got in ahead of them," he pointed out to GOAL. "I wasn't as prolific as I am now, so that played a part as well, but it was always going to be difficult to break into a top team with quality players like that.

"And I enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot. I was around some really nice people and top players. But I just wanted to go out and play. Bournemouth attracted me with their style of play and the manager at the time (Eddie Howe). I just felt it was the right step for me."

It has certainly turned out that way, but Solanke also struggled for a long time at Bournemouth. It took him a year - and 39 games - to score his first Premier League goal for the club. Those were tough times, particularly as Bournemouth ended up being relegated at the end of the 2019-20 season. But dropping down to the Championship proved a blessing in disguise for Solanke, as did Howe's departure.

Under the current Newcastle boss, Solanke was deployed mostly as a No.10. But he played mainly as a No.9 in the Championship, and to great effect - most notably under Scott Parker during the 2021-22 season, which saw Solanke score 29 times as Bournemouth secured promotion back to the Premier League.

"The style of play, the new manager and his staff coming in has definitely helped me," he said at the time. "It's all just clicked, and I think you can see that with the goals I'm getting."

Solanke looked ready to return to the top flight. He believed he had become a "more complete" forward, and quickly set about proving it.

He may have only scored six times during his first season back in the big time, but Solanke also contributed seven assists as Bournemouth finished 15th, five points above the drop zone. It was clear that his all-round game had come on immensely. However, the question still being asked was whether he could really score regularly in the Premier League - and he's only now answering it.

Again, a change of manager has proved decisive, with Bournemouth's bold - and some would argue ruthless - decision to sack Gary O'Neil and replace him with Andoni Iraola proving a masterstroke.

The Spaniard hasn't just taken the Cherries to another level, he's also improved Solanke, who has emerged as a surprise contender for this season's Golden Boot with 12 goals in 19 games - only Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland have scored more (14 apiece).

After hitting his first career hat-trick in a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on December 26, Solanke gazed at the matchball with a mix of pride and disbelief and told Bournemouth's media channel, "Finally got it. Been a long time coming."

He could just as easily have been talking about his belated emergence as highly-rated and in-demand Premier League attacker that Iraola is adamant is good enough to force his way into Gareth Southgate's England squad for Euro 2024.

Of course, the key will be demonstrating that this is no purple patch. Solanke has to show over the course of the second half of the season that he is capable of scoring consistently at this level. Doubts remain, of course, given Solanke's shooting accuracy (46 percent) and shot conversion rate (18%) do not compare particularly favourably with the very best goalscorers England has to offer.

What is beyond dispute, though, is that he represents a clear and present danger to Liverpool's hopes of maintaining their title challenge on Sunday. It may have taken an awful lot longer than expected, but Solanke is once again playing with the kind of joy and quality that convinced Klopp that he would become a star all those years ago.