Dominic Calvert-Lewin's form shows the risk Everton took | OneFootball

This was always the risk that Everton fans, or at least, some of them, feared would backfire on the Toffees when the club failed to agree fresh terms with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the summer.

Perhaps the more bullish Evertonian was confident that, even if Calvert-Lewin — the club’s third-highest Premier League goalscorer — were to stay in the Premier League, he would not come back to haunt the Toffees. After all, his final few, injury-plagued seasons at Everton had not exactly proffered much in the way of goals or reliability.

Calvert-Lewin was a consistent underperformer against his expected goals, so it was not as though he was always delivering when fit.

However, other fans — perhaps those, like this writer, of a more pessimistic persuasion — pointed to Calvert-Lewin’s all-round play; his Premier League nous; his physical attributes. Being a striker, particularly in an Everton team managed by Sean Dyche, was never going to be an easy role. And while David Moyes is more attacking than his predecessor, it is not as though he has ever had a fantastic record when it comes to getting the best out of centre-forwards.

It did feel, though, that the time was right to move on.

Calvert-Lewin scored the first goal of Moyes’ second stint at Everton, propelling Everton on their way to a 3-2 win over Tottenham back in January, but a week later, he broke down, sustaining a hamstring injury at Brighton, the place where his serious injury issues really started back in August 2021.

Calvert-Lewin’s tale at Everton since then had been one of mismanagement by the club, some deep lows for the player, some ludicrous shouts from a few in the fanbase, but also some huge moments in which he came up big. That goal against Crystal Palace, or his brilliant, bullet header in the Blues’ first Merseyside derby win since 2011.

Yet the injury he sustained last season meant Moyes, who on paper would have surely loved what a fully fit and firing Calvert-Lewin could bring to his team, had to turn to Beto, who more than did his part.

Calvert-Lewin and his representatives were demanding huge money, and it felt like a natural end — the player himself has said he needed a fresh start.

Eyebrows were understandably raised when Calvert-Lewin rocked up at Leeds in August as a free agent. He and his agents spoke of Champions League interest, but he instead signed for a club that seemed set for a relegation scrap. And if Calvert-Lewin felt Everton’s fanbase could be harsh, then he could surely be in for a rude awakening at Elland Road.

And it’s fair to say that his first few months at Leeds did not see him get off to a flying start, and the same old criticisms came to the fore, just from a different set of fans. That he is not a natural goalscorer; that he misses big chances. Those are valid points.

But a look at how Calvert-Lewin was playing should have been enough for a sensible fan to sit back and appreciate what he brought to Leeds. And for Evertonians, they should only cast their eyes at Thierno Barry and Beto to see what the Toffees have missed.

Calvert-Lewin now, of course, is back in red-hot form. He has scored six goals in his past five league games, his best run since the start of the 2020-21 season, when he was in such rich form under Carlo Ancelotti.

With seven top-flight goals to his name this term, Calvert-Lewin has already matched his best effort since the end of the 2020-21 campaign. There is a smile back on his face and he will, of course, now wind up Evertonians as he sings the praises of Leeds fans and lauds the Elland Road atmosphere. Sometimes, though, you have to take it if you’re willing to dish it out.

Let this not be a rewriting of history, though. Calvert-Lewin underperformed in front of goal in his final seasons at Everton, and he did fail to prove his reliability. This writer would point to massive caveats for both of those issues, but they were issues for him nevertheless.

And as Calvert-Lewin bagged a brace in Leeds’ 4-1 thrashing of Crystal Palace on Saturday, Evertonians watched on as their shorthanded team generated just one shot on target against Arsenal at Hill Dickinson Stadium, where Barry and Beto toiled in hopelessness against the league’s best defence.

Everton’s current strike force have just two league goals combined this term. And that is with the likes of Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye creating the chances behind them. The irony is that the trio would surely have been crafting the kind of opportunities from which Calvert-Lewin thrives.

Again, there are plenty of caveats for both Barry and Beto, but it is still perplexing why Everton’s recruitment team, under the leadership of Moyes and CEO Angus Kinnear, felt that Barry and Beto were going to cut it this season.

Barry needs time and patience but he also needs the support of an experienced hand alongside him. Beto, in theory, should have been that, but at 27, the former Udinese striker is still incredibly raw and lacking in guile.

Kinnear and Moyes will fairly point to Calvert-Lewin’s wage demands as being prohibitive, and it is hard to disagree. As mentioned, it was probably best for all parties to have a clean break, while the failings of the previous Director of Football, Kevin Thelwell, also should not be brushed over. He told shareholders in the summer of 2024 that Calvert-Lewin would not be allowed to leave Everton for free.

But Everton ran a big risk in not signing another experienced forward to help the transition. And while Calvert-Lewin continues to shine at Leeds, the fingers will continue to be pointed.

Reader Comments (3)

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3 Posted 22/12/2025 at 10:54:20

Whatever gets said about DCL, he had to imo, leave Everton, for the good of his career and his sanity.

I always liked him, but sat next to my brother, who had a polar opposite view, and this was probably going on all over the ground, because for everyone who liked the kid, there was probably another that didn’t?

I’ve seen him give some incredible displays, and will above anything else, always remember him for that diving header against Palace, that can still bring a tear to my eyes even now.

I understood the people who didn’t like him, believing that they just see the game in a different way to myself, but either way he had to go, just to get out of the firing line, for the times he was injured or just simply didn’t perform.

“Our centre forward wears knickers and bra’s” has gone down in folklore, or if it hasn’t, it’s still embedded in my brain, but I will always look back at some of the games where I thought he led the line fantastically well, like the last time we beat Liverpool, and remember Dominic fondly.