Postecoglou salutes Solanke's character and determination as he welcomes new Spurs striker

It was a happy homecoming for former hero Harry Kane as Bayern beat Spurs 3-2 in a pre season friendly but Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was looking to the future with a new frontman.

London — It's not that Ange Postecoglou doesn't like youthful top talents who arrive fully formed and ready to go. His endorsement for Tottenham to sign two hugely promising teenagers in Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray in the offseason should make that abundantly clear.

But he also has a penchant for players who have had to show their character, as well as their undoubted abilities, to get back to the top levels of the game if they have suffered disappointments and adversities on the way back to the upper echelons. Players like now Dominic Solanke.

Perhaps he understands, better than most elite managers, the ups and downs the game delivers: how dedication and a determination not to allow reversals to stand in your way can be the catalyst for a successful career - even if it comes later in your footballing life.

That's how it has been for him: after all, until he came to Glasgow Celtic three years ago after success in Japan's J-League and Australia's A-League, few in the game's European heartland had heard of him. Even after two seasons of unbridled success in Scotland plenty were scratching their heads when Spurs offered him the top job for the 2023-24 season.

Postecoglou himself has had to work his way back from setbacks, put his shoulder to the wheel out of the mainstream of football to earn the right to become part of an elite club.

So maybe that is why, on the day that the club confirmed it had signed Solanke in a reported 65 million pounds deal from Bournemouth, he spoke so warmly of the road to Premier League redemption that his new forward had taken.

Solanke's career arc, while at a far more exalted level than Postecoglou's before his Tottenham appointment, had not been without its stumbles, setbacks and failures either. But the big frontman has shown plenty of character to get over those hurdles, enjoying a breakout season with the Cherries last year having joined them in 2019 after early spells with giants Chelsea and Liverpool did not work out.

It was those characteristics that Spurs’ Australian boss alluded to when quizzed about the Solanke transfer in the wake of his team's 3-2 home loss to Bayern Munich in their last pre-season friendly before beginning their Premier League campaign away to promoted Leicester next Monday.

''He was one I was very keen to get in. I think he will be a great fit for us in terms of the player he is and the point of his career where he is at,'' he said.

''We have got him at a really good time in his career. He has had to work his way back up which I always think is a good thing. Sometimes when careers go smoothly you wonder how people will handle setbacks but he had setbacks earlier in his career. He has fought his way back and has become a really good Premier League striker now. He is really keen to push on. He wants to improve and make an impact. I think it’s a great time for us to bring him in.

''Since I spoke to him I got a real sense he had a really burning desire to take his football to another level and really challenge himself at a big club.''

His new boss amplified his view of Solanke's character and ability to focus on making the best of himself when he described his pathway to Tottenham as an ''interesting journey.''

''With some players things happen really early in their careers and they go really well, but then there's inevitable stumbles along the way and you want to see how they react.

''Dom had a very bright start to his career and he was at big clubs, which every player aspires to, but for one reason or another, it didn't work out for him.

''The fact that he's got himself back to this position where he's again one of the premier strikers in the Premier League, it's a testament to his character and he's only 26, about to turn 27. I think probably because of those early challenges he had, I think he's going try to push and have a really strong and impactful, meaningful years from now on.''

It was no secret that Spurs had been light on the centre-forward front since Harry Kane's departure to Bayern on the eve of last season: Brazilian replacement Richarlison has blown hot and cold and his time with the club has been blighted by injury.

''We identified him (Solanke) because he has the attributes we are looking for in terms of our position. He gives us some things we probably have been missing in the last 12 months, particularly when Richarlison was out last year,'' Postecoglou explained.

''When Richy played he was very effective for us (but) when he was out we didn’t really have a player who can make the impact Dom can in the final third and just with his general play. So I think he will be a good fit for us.''

*Solanke was introduced to the big Spurs crowd ahead of the Bayern game, a symbolic moment given the old king of White Hart Lane, Spurs record goalscorer Kane, was being given an emotional farewell as he took to the field alongside his Bayern team-mates.

Kane had left for the German powerhouse just before the start of last season and had not had the chance to say a proper farewell. Neither had another long-time Spurs servant in Eric Dier, who also joined the Munich giants from Tottenham during the January transfer window.

Both men were greeted warmly and embraced at the end of the match by their former teammates.

Kane only made a cameo appearance, coming off the bench with around 10 minutes to go, firing in two off-target shots as Bayern kept Spurs from snatching a leveller which would have made the score 3-3.