Time to sell Dominic Calvert-Lewin has arrived, Everton can’t rely on him anymore
Everton have had a big problem with finding a reliable source of goals this season, and many believed that Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s return to fitness could be the answer.
After a handful of substitute appearances, Calvert-Lewin has started each of the last four games and the club’s struggles haven’t really been cured.
The England international scored a brilliant goal in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace to show the quality he has, but the team haven’t scored a single goal in any of the other three games and that’s a problem.
An even bigger problem is his fitness issues, as the 25-year-old once again left the pitch due to an injury and is now facing a scan on Monday (7 November) ahead of another likely spell on the sidelines.
His World Cup dream is likely now in the gutter, however slim it was originally anyway, but now his future at Everton must surely be a conversation too.
The club essentially had to choose between Richarlison, Anthony Gordon and Calvert-Lewin to leave in the summer to balance the books, and had Calvert-Lewin been fit enough to pass a medical elsewhere he would have been many people’s pick.
Now Richarlison has gone though, there is an even greater emphasis on Calvert-Lewin’s goal in the side. But it doesn’t matter how good he is in front of goal if he can’t play more than five matches in a row, and for that reason the club must look to move him on.
He currently has a contract that runs until 2025 at Goodison Park, meaning this summer is the last chance Everton will have to get any meaningful fee for him from interested parties.
There are lots of good, young strikers that the club have been linked to in recent windows including the likes of Ben Brereton-Diaz who would be chomping at the bit to make an impact in the Premier League, and they’d cost a fraction of the sum we could probably sell Calvert-Lewin for.
This is something that fans would never have dreamed of asking for two summers ago, but it’s now become imperative that we move him on and stop relying on him.
It’s not possible to have him as part of our squad as a bit-part player because he’s on a big wage and is a huge presence in the dressing room, but the time has come for the club and player to part ways.
Everton must move on from Calvert-Lewin and bring in a player we can rely on to find the back of the net and stay fit for long stretches at a time, otherwise another relegation battle looms.