Crystal Palace are one of the clubs now showing an interest in signing Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin this summer.
Signing a new number nine this summer has always been on the priority list for Crystal Palace, with Odsonne Edouard’s likely departure opening the door.
Due to this, now it seems Dominic Calvert-Lewin has emerged as an option this summer in order to bolster the ranks alongside Jean-Philippe Mateta.
The interest in signing Calvert-Lewin comes according to a report from TBR which suggests that the Eagles have joined West Ham in holding a strong interest.
But despite Dougie Freedman’s interest, he’s wrong to be keen on this move. Here’s why.
- READ MORE: Crystal Palace confirmed signings, transfer ins and outs, loans and releases for 2024 summer window
Crystal Palace must avoid signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Calvert-Lewin seems set to be on the move this summer with a £40m deal likely to be how much Everton are expecting to receive for him.
At 27, Calvert-Lewin has been around the Premier League for years already, with 213 appearances in the league yielding him 54 goals.
This however is a misleading return, as 19 of his Premier League goals came in 69 games across 2019/20 and 2020/21.
Since then he has managed just 14 goals in 66 games during the past three seasons, including seven during 2023/24.
For large periods, Calvert-Lewin was very poor and lacked any real sharp edge in attack – while his injuries haven’t helped.
The one thing making this deal considerable is that Oliver Glasner turned Mateta from being worse than Calvert-Lewin to being incredible.
However, for £40m it’s a tremendous risk and there are countless better options for the Eagles to strengthen Glasner’s options up front.
Calvert-Lewin analysis
As a striker, Calvert-Lewin is as classic as they come, thriving in physical play and actually struggles when he gets the ball to his feet.
This can be seen as he completed just 56.4 per cent of his passes, this means in Glasner’s system he isn’t exactly a player who’d fit in perfectly as he wouldn’t get involved in the build-up.
He isn’t creative, being in the 37th percentile for shot-creating actions (2.24) and also isn’t exactly lethal in front of goal with his seven goals last season coming from 12.9 expected goals (xG), as per FBRef.
For the money being demanded, Palace could sign a far better striker and more importantly a better fit for Glasner.
So hopefully the club steer clear of Calvert-Lewin as it just seems like a potential £40m transfer mistake.
