Mourinho loan flop is now outscoring Solanke after leaving Spurs

The sky is blue, the grass is green, and Tottenham Hotspur have been an incredibly entertaining yet inconsistent team again this year.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have put in some of the most impressive performances of the season so far, like their 3-0 win away to Manchester United and their 4-1 dismantling of Aston Villa just over a week ago.

Yet, as they did last season, the North Londoners have also found ways to lose to substantially weaker teams like Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town while also completely capitulating against Brighton & Hove Albion.

That said, for all the issues in and around Postecoglou’s team at the moment, there are plenty of positives, including the form of summer signing Dominic Solanke, although he is being outscored by a former loan flop.

Dominic Solanke’s form this season

Yes, following his £65m move from Bournemouth in the summer, there was a lot of expectation and pressure placed upon Solanke’s shoulders heading into this season.

The Spurs faithful were hoping that he’d be able to replicate the sensational form he showed for the Cherries last year, which saw him score 21 goals and provide four assists.

Unfortunately, an ankle injury just one game into the league campaign meant that supporters had to wait a little while longer to see their record-signing in full flow, but as the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait, and after a couple of underwhelming performances against Arsenal and Coventry City he was ready to show the fans what he could do.

The Basingstoke-born poacher got off the mark in the league against Brentford in mid-September, and in the next six league games, he scored another three goals and provided an assist while also scoring another goal in the Europa League last week to go with the one he scored against Qarabağ FK in September.

Overall, the former Liverpool ace has racked up a reasonably impressive haul of six goals and two assists in 15 appearances for Postecoglou’s side, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 1.87 games.

However, while that’s a great start, the 27-year-old is being outscored by a former Spurs flop signed on loan by José Mourinho.

Spurs’ loan flop outscoring Solanke

Let’s get straight to the point: the player in question is midfielder Gedson Fernandes, who joined Mourinho’s Spurs outfit on an initial 18-month loan deal from Benfica in January 2020.

There was an element of excitement around the move, as, despite being just 21 years old at the time, he had already made 59 senior appearances for the Portuguese giants and was part of the team that won the league the season prior.

Unfortunately, Spurs fans never even got much of a chance to form their own opinion of the player, as over the following year, he played just 447 minutes of action across 14 appearances, ten of which were off the bench, before he was sent back to Lisbon with it clear that he was not going to get any real game time under the special one.

The following few years saw him spend time on loan with Galatasaray and Caykur Rizespor in Turkey before securing a permanent move to Turkish giants Besiktas in the summer of 2022, where he remains.

Last season saw him play a key role in the side, making 45 appearances across all competitions, scoring three goals and providing six assists, but he’s done even better this year.

In just 18 appearances for the Kara Kartallar, the São Tomé-born dynamo has scored seven goals and provided two assists. Therefore, he is currently outscoring Solanke despite playing in central midfield.

Ultimately, Spurs were right to send him back when they did, as he clearly wasn’t of the level required to play in the Premier League, but it’s undoubtedly a happy ending to see the 25-year-old find his feet at such a big club.

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