Richard Keys finds what’s happened to Everton ‘a pity’ after scenes 200+ miles away
Richard Keys feels sympathy for Everton after what has happened with Dominic Calvert-Lewin at fellow Premier League side Leeds United.
Calvert-Lewin joined Leeds when his Everton contract expired in the summer, bringing an end to his nine-year spell on Merseyside.
The England international hit double figures for Premier League goals in back-to-back seasons for Everton in 2019-20 and 2020-21, but just 17 goals followed over the next four campaigns.
While it was clear the forward’s time at Everton was coming to an end, Calvert-Lewin is now back in brilliant form for Leeds.
He scored again for Leeds in their 1-1 draw at Brentford on Sunday to make it four goals in his past four Premier League games.
Everton could really do with Dominic Calvert-Lewin right now
Calvert-Lewin’s hot streak is only highlighting Everton’s big weakness this season, which is a proper number nine to lead the line.
Beto and Thierno Barry have been poor, scoring just a couple of Premier League goals between them, which is simply not good enough.
Had Calvert-Lewin been playing off Jack Grealish, Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and the others, Everton may be even higher in the table than they are.
And in the view of broadcaster Keys, writing on his personal blog on Monday, it’s disappointing from Everton’s perspective this form did not arrive in the latter stages of his career on Merseyside.
“What’s happened to Calvert-Lewin? He’s on fire,” Keys said. “I’ve always thought there was a player in him, but he’s kept it hidden really well. Perhaps he’s found a home at Leeds?
“It’s a pity for Everton he couldn’t have found this form in their jersey. They played really well at Chelsea. Their performance missed only one thing – a centre-forward.
“They’ve got to find one in January. If they do Europe isn’t out of the question.”
This is where Everton will finish without signing a new striker
David Moyes says Everton will sign a new player in January if the right option becomes available.
Every Everton fan will be desperate for a goalscorer to be brought in, otherwise this impressive first half to the campaign will unfortunately fade.
The bottom line is, Everton have an array of talented attacking players, but not a top-class centre-forward.
History cannot be rewritten when it comes to Calvert-Lewin – he was not good enough in those final few seasons at Goodison Park.
However, it is also true that he did not have the attacking support that Beto and Barry are being given.
Opta’s supercomputer has Everton to finish 10th as things stand, and the only way that will change is if a striker is signed next month.
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