Against all expectations, Dominic Solanke came out of nowhere and was in the squad for the FA Cup Third Round game between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa on Saturday. He even came off the bench for about 15 minutes, and while Spurs ended up being eliminated with a 2-1 defeat to the Lions, it was still a huge positive to see the England international back out there.
Prior to this FA Cup cameo appearance against Villa, Solanke had appeared in just three total matches for Spurs in the 2025/26 season due to a lingering foot injury that required surgery in the Fall and was slow to heal.
Thomas Frank and Tottenham had given pretty much no updates on Solanke, acting as if it would take even more weeks for the Europa League hero to make his return. But now, Frank has more concrete and positive updates for Solanke, just as he did in the days leading up to Solanke's surprise return.
Dominic Solanke is on the up and up
As per Chris Cowlin of talkSPORT, Frank confirmed that things are getting better and better for big Dominic Solanke and that the Tottenham Hotspur striker is going to be ready to get even more action next week in the Premier League when Spurs take on local rivals West Ham United.
Frank told reporters after the Aston Villa loss, âHeâs in a good place. Of course, he's not fully to fit to go 90 minutes, top sharp, but he is fit enough to get out there and get 15 minutes (against Villa). Then, we build from there and he will be in a better place next week against West Ham.â
So while Solanke is not close to getting a full 90 minutes and starting over Randal Kolo Muani with Richarlison now injured, too, after doing his hamstring over the weekend, he should then, in theory, be able to get more than the mere 15 minutes he accrued in the FA Cup defeat.
Solanke is a flawed player in his own right and probably was not worth the 65 million pounds that Tottenham paid to sign him from Bournemouth in 2024 in a record setting transfer. But he is the best all around striker Spurs have right now, unless Mathys Tel gets the chance to prove otherwise, and he showed his clutch factor in the Europa League. it is good for Spurs to have him back.