Keith Wyness says he keeps thinking about what might have happened if Dominic Calvert-Lewin had stayed at Everton. The former Goodison Park chief executive believes the 29-year-old forward’s goals for Leeds United would have been crucial for his old club this season.
Everton let Calvert-Lewin leave when his contract expired last summer, and Leeds took him on a free transfer. The striker then scored 13 Premier League goals as Leeds stayed up in their first season back in the top flight, while Everton were left looking at a forward line that never quite did enough.
Wyness, who ran Everton from 2004 to 2009, said he kept wondering how different the picture might have been if Calvert-Lewin had remained at the club. He pointed to the goals Leeds got from the England hopeful and said they would have been “very crucial” for Everton, adding that the forward had been the difference for Leeds this year.
The move now looks even sharper because Everton are set to be in the market for a new forward this summer. Beto struggled in front of goal. Thierno Barry struggled too. That left the club with unresolved problems up front, and with their hopes of European football not yet dead, the need for more finishing power is not just about next season. It could shape whether David Moyes has the sort of attacking help he needs to push for UEFA competition at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Calvert-Lewin’s return to form also puts Everton in a difficult spot. Wyness said the striker has shown he is still a talent and still competing for an England place. That leaves the club weighing not only what it lost last year, but whether it can find a replacement with the same blend of movement, experience and goal threat in a market that is already pulling them toward Joshua Zirkzee.
Mick Brown, a former Manchester United chief scout, has said Everton have joined the race for Zirkzee, a 24-year-old who has started only five Premier League games this season and has yet to show his full potential at Manchester United. He is also expected to leave Old Trafford, which makes him one of several names under consideration as Everton try to fix a problem that has already cost them once.
For Everton, Calvert-Lewin’s exit was supposed to open a new chapter. Instead, his 13 goals for Leeds have become a reminder of what the club gave away, and why this summer’s search for a forward may carry more weight than the last one.
