GLOBAL SOCCER
Chelsea's coaches recognised this early. It is why, while still an under-15 player, Solanke was handed a debut for the club's under-18 side in February 2013.
Despite playing against opposition defenders three years his senior, Solanke was not intimidated and he ended that season with two goals in 10 appearances.
He had made his mark and the 2013-14 campaign would be a landmark year for the striker. Still only 16, he cemented himself as the under-18s No9. His talent shone through once again. He scored 20 times in 28 appearances that season to help Chelsea win the FA Youth Cup.
Solanke would also taste international success with England at the end of the campaign as he scored four goals as the Young Lions won the 2014 Uefa European Under-17 Championship.
If Chelsea felt they had a gem on their hands in the summer of 2014, and you sense they did considering he signed his first pro deal that September, they knew for sure a year later that Solanke was something special.
He scored an incredible 41 goals in 39 games for the under-18s during the 2014-15 campaign, which helped Chelsea win another FA Youth Cup and the Uefa Youth League. It was during that campaign that Solanke made his Chelsea debut.
The then 17-year-old was introduced by Mourinho as a 73rd-minute substitute in a 6-0 win over NK Maribor in the Champions League. That appearance turned out to be the only competitive game the striker played for the Blues.
It was clear by the summer of 2015 that Solanke had outgrown his surroundings in the Chelsea academy.
He needed a bigger challenge and, as they have done with several of their young players, Solanke was loaned to Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem. But his spell in Holland was slightly underwhelming. Perhaps Blues fans' expectations were too high given that the step up to first-team football is greater than many imagine.
Solanke was not able to plunder goal after goal and an Achilles tendon injury he sustained at the beginning of February kept him out for over a month.
But his return of seven goals in 27 matches was respectable and he had certainly made an impression on former Vitesse and Ajax defender Ferdi Vierklau.
He said: “He is clinical. Sometimes, with the most impossible balls he knows how to do something beautiful from nothing. In that way, he is reminiscent of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He is doing so well.”
Last summer, the Blues hoped to loan Solanke out to a Premier League club. They wanted him to play games and continue to develop. But first they wanted him to pen a deal.
He had only 12 months remaining on his contract and, understandably, Chelsea did not want to let him depart without knowing his long-term future would be at Stamford Bridge. But negotiations stalled and by February it was clear talks had ended. There is no doubt this has been a wasted season for Solanke.
He has played just six games, all for Chelsea's Under-21 side, in which he has scored twice. However, he will hope the ends justify the means.
Chelsea will be disappointed to have lost Solanke, a player they have spent money and 12 years nurturing. But the lack of firstteam opportunities academy graduates are afforded at Stamford Bridge was one day going to come home to roost.
According to reports, Solanke has agreed a £20,000-per-week deal with Liverpool because he believes he has a better chance of establishing himself in the Reds first-team.
Celtic were interested, RB Leipzig too, but it is Anfield that the England Under-21 international now calls home.
Chelsea will receive compensation, as Solanke is under 23 and was offered a contract, thought to be around £3m. For a player of Solanke's talents, that could well prove to be a bargain.
He initially joined the Reds' Under-23 side but, if history is anything to go by, Solanke will quickly be moved up.
It would not come as a surprise to any Chelsea fan - or coach for that matter - to see Solanke making an impact in the Premier League next season.