After some irresistible performances to kickstart the season, Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been rewarded with a call-up to the England side, with the striker one of three new caps in Gareth Southgate’s team.
A three-goal haul in a Carabao Cup win over West Ham on Wednesday took his tally to eight goals in five games in all competitions, cementing his position as one of the in-form strikers in the league.
“He’s in a very good moment,” Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti said after Wednesday’s victory. “Whether he’s the best (striker in England) I don’t know, but I don’t care. For me, for us, he is.”
Calvert-Lewin was joined by Leicester’s Harvey Barnes and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka as the new caps in the squad.
The 23-year-old’s call-up was not unexpected, with Liverpool great Jamie Carragher said he deserved his chance with the Three Lions.
“He’s been outstanding and had a great start. Carlo Ancelotti has had some of the best strikers in world football at times. He’s put his faith in Calvert-Lewin and it’s paying off. I’m a big fan.
“The only thing he lacked before was goals. He held the ball up, was good aerially, provided pace, could lead the line, worked off the ball – but he needed to be more clinical in front of goal. That’s what he’s doing now under Ancelotti.”
He added: “There isn’t much competition with Harry Kane for the actual centre-forward spot. There are a lot of wide forwards, when you think of Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho.
“But, in terms of real strikers, now Jamie Vardy has retired from international duty, you look at Danny Ings, maybe Tammy Abraham – they’ve had sniffs with England before, but Calvert-Lewin is as good as those two.”