Calvert-lewin a game-changer

Assemble a list of the greatest Everton strikers and you will see some of the most illustrious and decorated players of all time. You will also notice a problem: none of the club’s top 15 goalscorers have played for them for 27 years. Only three – Graeme Sharp, Gary Lineker and Romelu Lukaku – have scored 20 league goals in a season since 1978.

Given Everton’s FA Cup triumphs were written into legend by the club’s strikers, these facts go a long way to explaining why Everton go into today’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City trying to end a trophy drought stretching back to 1995. And that is why the emergence of Dominic Calvert-lewin has the potential to be a game-changer for the club.

He has an eye for goal which Carlo Ancelotti can build a team around, knowing that so long as his side are organised at the back there is always a likelihood that his striker will deliver.

Since Ancelotti took the Everton job, Calvert-lewin’s strike rate is up there with the best in the league. Only Mohamed Salah, Bruno Fernandes and Harry Kane lead him in the scoring chart this season because, unlike him, they take penalties. In general play, Calvert-lewin is scoring at a quicker rate than Kane and Salah, finding the net every 154 minutes. I have no doubt clubs above Everton will be analysing his numbers.

Equally, I do not see a situation like with Wayne Rooney and Lukaku, where the club were always looking over their shoulder anticipating a massive offer. Calvert-lewin will acknowledge how working with Ancelotti has elevated his game in a little over 12 months. He is in the right place with the perfect coach, so I cannot see him thinking of moving for the foreseeable future.

Calvert-lewin will have to be at his best if Everton are to beat City today. To me, this is the biggest game of their season and the most important of Ancelotti’s reign so far. These are the fixtures he was brought in to win, no matter how formidable the opponent.