Newcastle sent £40m Brazil striker warning as ‘very important’ verdict made
Newcastle United may not have to face Dominic Solanke when they head to the south coast to take on AFC Bournemouth this weekend, but Cherries boss Andoni Iraola is confident his replacement will be ready for the visit of Eddie Howe’s men.
Solanke scored three times against the Magpies last season, including a brace in their 2-0 win over United in November 2023 on what was a dismal day for the visitors. His big-money move to Tottenham left Bournemouth without a recogised No 9, but they wasted little time in finding an alternative.
The Cherries paid an initial £31.7m to FC Porto for Brazilian striker Evanilson in a deal that could rise to £40m and, while he missed their opening-day 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, Iraola expects him to be involved when Newcastle arrive at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday. The Spaniard felt his side lacked a goal threat at the City Ground, but is confident that will change when they host United for their first home game of the new Premier League campaign
“I think we are not going to hide that Dom Solanke was pivotal for us. He was involved in a lot of our offensive play last season but I think that the club didn’t have an easy job. You never want to lose probably your best player.
“I think they did really well, they’ve been preparing for the situation. Evanilson for me is a great signing. I hope he can train normally this full week and for sure he will be someone that we hope will be very important this season.
“He has a different skillset, probably. It’s always impossible to sign exactly the same profile of player, but for someone that is still very young, he has three years playing for Porto, playing European games, he has even played the first games with his national team, that is Brazil. It is not easy to play with Brazil. So, I hope he gives us the level we know he has.”
The 24-year-old is a team-mate of Bruno Guimaraes at international level, with the pair both featuring for Brazil at this summer’s Copa America. He scored 17 goals for Porto last season, including a Champions League hat-trick against Royal Antwerp.
Newcastle will face Solanke the weekend after, of course, with Spurs at St James’ Park for the third Premier League game of the season on Sunday, September 1.
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