I know. I know. TodoFichajes’ story that Real Madrid are ‘preparing’ a €40m bid for Dominic Calvert-Lewin is likely nonsense, but there is a good reason why I’m covering it.
The 23-year-old has been on fire this season and is now being linked with the biggest clubs in Europe, so it’s a good time to talk about his rise to prominence in the last 12 months.
How good has Calvert-Lewin been?
Very good recently, but he took his time to find his feet. Calvert-Lewin has made 141 appearances in all competitions since joining Everton from Sheffield United in 2016, scoring 42 goals with 11 assists. More than half of those goals (23) across the board have come since the start of 2019/20, however, which is why he’s getting a lot of traction.
- 2016/17 (Premier League): 11 appearances, 1 goal
- 2017/18 (Premier League): 32 appearances, 4 goals, 7 assists
- 2018/19 (Premier League): 35 appearances, 6 goals, 2 assists
- 2019/20 (Premier League): 36 appearances, 13 goals, 1 assist
- 2020/21 (Premier League): 5 appearances, 7 goals, 0 assists
Since the start of last season, only Jamie Vardy (28 goals in 39 Premier League games for Leicester City), Danny Ings (26 goals in 43 games for Southampton), Mohamed Salah (25 goals in 39 games for Liverpool), Harry Kane (23 goals in 34 games for Tottenham), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (23 goals in 41 games for Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (22 goals in 37 games for Manchester City) and Sadio Mane (22 goals in 39 games for Liverpool) have scored more than the 23-year-old.
This season, nobody has more goals than Calvert-Lewin.
Could he leave?
Not yet. Calvert-Lewin signed a five-year deal in March and plays for a club sitting top of the Premier League table with 13 points from five games, so why would he leave?
I don’t really believe Real Madrid are lining up a bid for the England international, but I do think a lot of clubs have been made aware of his bright start. When you lead the scoring charts in the Premier League, people are bound to take notice.
We don’t have anything to worry about yet, however. Calvert-Lewin can just focus on his football this season and we don’t have any genuine offers to field, so no need to panic.
In other news, Everton tried to re-sign Kurt Zouma over the summer, here’s why the pursuit failed