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DCL injury underlines Everton need forward in January

By Matt Townsend

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton is challenged by Declan Rice and Said Benrahma of West Ham United during the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United at Goodison Park on January 01, 2021 in Liverpool, England. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: Dominic Calvert-Lewin of Everton is challenged by Declan Rice and Said Benrahma of West Ham United during the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United at Goodison Park on January 01, 2021 in Liverpool, England. The match will be played without fans, behind closed doors as a Covid-19 precaution. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images) /
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In some seriously bad news Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Dominic Calvert-Lewin is missing for tonight’s match at Wolves due to a hamstring injury.

This sort of news is exactly what I feared might happen and the loss of the England striker underlines how much Everton need to find a viable alternative and back-up to him.

We don’t know how long the 23-year-old will be out for but a hamstring injury is usually four to six weeks or so on the sidelines.

The January transfer window is of course open and there are obviously a ton of rumours about possible new signings for the club including forwards. And with this news, getting in another front man to support Calvert-Lewin is now very much a priority.

it’s not just the goals he has scored but the work rate and overall all-round threat he represents. His game is fundamental to the way the Toffees play allowing them to either enjoy a more possession, attacking game on the front foot or sit deeper and hit teams on the break.

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The current reserves in the squad Cenk Tosun and Ellis Simms either aren’t good enough or ready for first-team football yet, so the Toffees need to try and find another forward who can do the job now.

And there are constant stories going around that Tosun is on his way out of Goodison Park this month so were that to happen it would leave Everton very thin up front.

There have been a number of different forward players linked to the Blues with some persistent stories and with names like Arkadiusz Milik, Wilfried Zaha and Josh King constantly surfacing over the past few months.

Signing a wide attacker with real pace and a forward who can fill in for DCL are in my view the main priorities for this and the summer’s window, along with perhaps a young right-back.

Of the various possibilities mentioned above the most likely would I imagine be King or Milik. The Bournemouth and Norway forward can play wide or at centre-forward and given his current club is languishing in the Championship he might be available quickly and cheaply.

King could play on the left allowing Richarlison to move into the middle and operate as centre-forward in Calvert-Lewin’s absence, although the Brazilian’s form has been poor recently.

Milik would be a more obviously direct replacement for the England international. He is out in the cold at Napoli and again would be available for a small fee, or on a free if the Toffees wanted to wait and move for him in the summer.

Whoever the Blues are looking at (assuming they are doing so) I think they’ve now got to try and get someone in this window as losing Calvert-Lewin for any length of time is going to be a real challenge for this team.