Former Chelsea star open to return but structure of clause could complicate transfer

Former Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke is open to a return to the club this summer but Bournemouth have reportedly declined to allow the Blues to pay his release clause in instalments, according to Simon Phillips.

Solanke impressed at Bournemouth last season, scoring 19 goals in 38 Premier League games, and 21 in all competitions in total.

It now surely makes sense for Chelsea to look again at Solanke, even if he failed to make a first-team breakthrough at Stamford Bridge earlier in his career, leading him to pursue his career elsewhere.

Solanke has improved a lot since then, and the 26-year-old now looks like he could clearly have a positive impact in this Chelsea team, which was overly reliant on a young and inconsistent Nicolas Jackson last season.

Solanke transfer situation explained by Chelsea expert

While things do not seem to be advanced yet, the Solanke to Chelsea story clearly seems like one to watch, according to Phillips.

CFC need a striker, and Phillips has linked a number of targets as options for the west London giants, with Solanke one of them, and with the England international open to joining.

“One situation of this could certainly be certainly Dominic Solanke, because things have been happening here, although SPTC sources still maintain nothing is advanced,” Phillips said.

“But he’s absolutely seriously being considered, I’ve heard from yet another source last night that Solanke is a name mentioned to them too. It’s a unanimous report now from SPTC sources. Let’s see if anything goes any further.

“Last we heard was that Bournemouth do not wish to let Chelsea pay the release clause in instalments, and maybe it does end there. But there’s always room for negotiations in these things, and Chelsea would look for the player to push. Solanke is open to a return. Again, nothing advanced, but certainly something going on there, there’s just far too much noise for it to be absolutely nothing in it.”