Shakhtar Donetsk still want Tottenham to pay a £5.6m fee for free signing Manor Solomon as club chief says they invested money in the player that they ‘cannot afford to lose’

Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin says he planning to meet with Tottenham representatives in the hope of securing a transfer fee for Manor Solomon.

Solomon, whose contract at Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk expired in June, agreed to join the Premier League side on a free transfer following his fruitful loan spell at Fulham last campaign.

The forward began his season-long stint at Craven Cottage with a serious knee injury but went on to chalk up 24 appearances across all competitions, scoring five goals.

Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine players at Russian and Ukrainian clubs are allowed to unilaterally suspend their contracts until June 2024.

Solomon’s deal at Shakhtar was due to expire on December 31, 2023 and thus he was able to suspend it beyond its expiry, allowing him to join Spurs as a free agent.

Tottenham signed Israeli international Manor Solomon on a free transfer earlier this month

Shakhtar head to London next week for a pre-season friendly with Spurs and will use the opportunity to discuss a fee as they look to recoup the £5.6m they paid to sign him from Maccabi Petah Tikva in 2019.

‘We are sure Tottenham executives understand that Shakhtar invested significant money in the Solomon transfer, investment that Ukrainian clubs in our difficult position, simply cannot afford to lose,’ Palkin told Standard Sport.

‘We hope we will have a meeting with Tottenham representatives on the eve of our friendly match and in good faith we will find a solution to the Manor Solomon issue. The solution should satisfy both sides.

Shakhtar Donetsk are still hoping to receive a transfer fee for the player from Spurs 

‘We are not trying to receive some kind of profit. We need just to cover everything that we lost, and that’s it. I believe that we will find a solution, an amicable solution, to have all parties happy.’

Solomon, 23, began his career with local Israeli side Maccabi Petah Tikva before joining Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2019.

There, the winger twice won the domestic league title and gained valuable experience in the Champions League, becoming the youngest Israeli player to score in the competition against Atalanta in October 2019.