The golden free agent striker signing Sunderland could land this summer amid rival Leeds and Celtic interest

On Sunday, Dominic Calvert-Lewin confirmed what most Everton fans already suspected to be the case – that he was leaving the club at which he had spent the past nine seasons to test the waters of an unusually busy free transfer market. But what happens next?

“This isn't something I chose lightly,” Calvert-Lewin said in a statement. “Everton has been my home since I was 19 years old. It's the place that saw potential in me… The choice to move on was not simply about me, it was a decision with my family and we spent a long time considering together. We believe it's the right moment to seek a new challenge.”

Finding the right ‘new challenge’ may not be straightforward, however. Quite a few teams from the Premier League and elsewhere have been linked with the 28-year-old, with Newcastle United, West Ham United, Leeds United, Celtic and even AS Roma all suggested as possible destinations in the press. One club, however, perhaps makes more sense than most as Calvert-Lewin takes his next steps.

The issues facing Dominic Calvert-Lewin as he looks for a new home

Only Calvert-Lewin knows precisely what sort of fresh challenge he really wants. Perhaps it’s about money, often easier to come by when moving clubs without a transfer fee attached, or finding a club willing to offer him a long-term contract, but it may equally be about playing for a side that will offer him regular first-team football as he tries to get back to the form he exhibited between 2019 and 2021, before the endless injury issues which slowed him down so much.

It's tricky for a Premier League team such as Newcastle, or West Ham to look at Calvert-Lewin’s recent form and see a likely starter. The forward has been fit enough to feature in 58 top-flight matches over the past two seasons, and the results have sadly been rather discouraging.

Calvert-Lewin scored three goals from a total of 6.7xG in the 2024/25 season, undershooting his ‘expected’ strike rate more than any other player in the league save for Manchester City’s Savinho. Over the past four seasons, since the injuries really started to set in, the striker has earned 31.9xG but actually found the back of the net just 17 times.

His finishing was only ever one part of his arsenal at his best, of course, but even the hold-up play which earned plenty of praise when he was at his peak seems to have tailed away – he has managed just six assists in the last five years in the Premier League, and only two strikers in the division were involved in creating fewer shooting chances per match for their team-mates than Calvert-Lewin last year, Southampton’s Cameron Archer and Adam Armstrong.

Even his much-vaunted aerial prowess seems to have diminished – he won a lot of aerial duels over the last year, but largely because of Everton’s direct playing style under David Moyes. His 51% win rate in the air last season was, as one might expect, very much in the middle of the pack.

Any team signing Calvert-Lewin, then, is taking a significant risk should they offer him a lengthy deal or substantial wages (he was earning £100,000 per week at Everton) given the extent to which he has struggled of late. There is always the chance that he can be nursed back to form as well as full fitness, but it has been several years since he has played like an elite striker, either in terms of his goalscoring or his link-up play.

That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t still have qualities. His off-ball movement remains impressive and he’s still able to get into good positions to receive downfield passes, and a team which looks to get the ball downfield at speed would likely suit him better – as would a team which looks to press high upfield, as Calvert-Lewin’s high work rate and willingness to pressure defenders makes him effective in that regard even now.

Assuming Calvert-Lewin’s motivations for seeking a move aren’t purely financial, then, what he needs is a team that look to move the ball to the final third at speed – not necessarily via the long ball – that press man-to-man and, perhaps, that have more motivation than most to take some risks. One team does seem to fit the bill…

Why Sunderland should take a chance on Dominic Calvert-Lewin

The areas of Calvert-Lewin’s game which are still effective at the top level seem to line up quite nicely with the way that Sunderland play under French manager Régis Le Bris – quick transitions and a focus on moving the ball upfield quickly and high pressing. They also likely need a new striker.

Sunderland’s primary options at centre-forward right now are Wilson Isidor, who scored a thoroughly respectable but perhaps not overwhelming 12 goals in 43 league games last season, and the 20-year-old Eliezer Mayenda, who scored eight in 37 matches. Both were perfectly respectable strikers in the Championship, but it would be a pleasant surprise if they offered enough of a goal threat on their own at the highest level.

And Sunderland will need to score more goals if they are to survive in the Premier League - the same goes for Leeds, who have also been linked. Their eventual promotion campaign was based around a tight defence more than a lethal attack, and the 58 goals that they registered in the second tier last season was bettered by eight teams. Relegated Plymouth Argyle, by way of comparison, only scored seven fewer.

As outlined above, Calvert-Lewin scarcely guarantees goals, but then Sunderland will need to roll the dice more than most teams given the enormity of the gap they now need to bridge between the Championship and the Premier League. Calvert-Lewin at least has the proven ceiling, even if it is arguably hypothetical after so long, of a striker that could be the difference between winning matches and losing them.

He would also give Sunderland a fresh way to attack – four inches taller and far better in the air than current first choice Isidor, should Sunderland find themselves in positions in which they have to lean on the long ball then Calvert-Lewin could be a much more efficient target than anyone presently on the books at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland have been linked with a bid over the past week, albeit not by any especially reliable media outlets, but it would scarcely be a shock if they at least discussed terms with the player’s representatives as they work to get their squad up to code.

It would be a gamble, of course, and one that the statistics suggest they would likely lose – then again, the reality for any team promoted via the play-offs is that they face an enormous uphill battle for survival and need to take some chances. This is one which, were it to come off, would give them the goals that could make all the difference between survival and relegation.

Calvert-Lewin still knows how to get into goalscoring positions and how to provide a team with options on the break. All he needs to do is to relearn how to apply the finishing touch – and if he wants to make sure he gets minutes under his belt, a newly-promoted side is a better bet than a team like Newcastle, where he would surely be a back-up and no more. Maybe a move to Sunderland would be a sensible plan for both club and player alike.