Ideal for Calvert-Lewin: Leeds offered £33m star who’s “similar to Haaland”
Leeds United’s form in front of goal has taken a huge upturn in recent games. It has helped Whites put a gap of seven points between themselves and the relegation zone, and their 25 goals are more than all four sides below them.
A large reason for this sharp upturn in form is thanks to summer signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The Englishman, who joined from Everton on a free transfer, has been unstoppable in the last month or so.
He’s scored seven goals in his last six Premier League games, and is looking at his very best.
Interestingly, they are linked with another striker to add to that quality in January.
Leeds offered chance to sign Calvert-Lewin partner
Calvert-Lewin was not the only attacker who joined Leeds last summer. They also added Lukas Nmecha, also on a free from Wolfsburg, and versatile forward Noah Okafor, who joined from AC Milan, to the ranks.
Now, it seems like Daniel Farke’s side are looking to add to that depth. According to TEAMtalk, they have been ‘offered’ the chance to sign AS Roma striker Artem Dovbyk.
The Whites are one of the sides that ‘have been approached about a possible deal,’ amidst uncertainty over his future.
However, there are other Premier League clubs in the race to sign the Ukrainian. Relegation rivals West Ham United have also been offered the chance to sign him, as have fellow newly promoted side Sunderland.
As for a price for Dovbyk, Roma could ask for a fee as high as £33m to get a move over the line.
Why Dovbyk would be perfect for Calvert-Lewin
Signing Dovbyk could certainly be a smart move for the West Yorkshire side this winter. At 28 years of age, Leeds would be bringing in a player with bags of experience, and in the peak years of his career.
In truth, his numbers for Roma this season have perhaps been a little underwhelming. In 14 appearances, he’s scored two goals and assisted two. Yet, he’s only played 564 minutes, an average of six full 90-minute games, which certainly frames those stats better.
Arguably, the best season of Dovbyk’s career came in 2023/24 for Girona. That term, the 40-cap Ukrainian international bagged 24 goals and assisted eight in 36 La Liga games. That included a brilliant hat-trick in the space of six minutes against Sevilla.
Mario Balotelli once said he is “similar to Haaland,” and looking at his stats from the 2023/24 campaign, it is easy to see why.
He averaged 0.83 goals and had an expected goals tally of 0.84xG per 90 minutes, both of which ranked him in the top 3% of La Liga strikers that season.
|
Dovbyk key stats for Girona in 23/24 La Liga |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stat (per 90) |
Number |
Percentile |
|
Goals |
0.83 |
97th |
|
Shot on target % |
46.8% |
82nd |
|
Goals per shot |
0.22 |
88th |
|
Expected goals |
0.84xG |
97th |
|
Stats from FBref |
||
It would be quite the duo for Leeds if they were able to play Dovbyk and Calvert-Lewin as a pair together.
Their number nine has, of course, been on fire of late, with Farke calling him “one of the best English strikers in this league” the other week.
Surely the Leeds boss would love to unite him with Dovbyk.
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Calvert-Lewin has done his best work this season in a front two, with this run of seven goals in six games all being scored when he’s played alongside another centre-forward.
The Roma striker was described as a “powerful target man” by football analyst Ben Mattinson, but also someone who “loves to drive at players,” similar, too, to Haaland.
With Calvert-Lewin being someone who links play well and is so deadly in the box, this could be a good combination of strikers to pair with each other.
A £33m fee is not the most expensive in the current market, and Dovbyk has developed a good reputation as a clinical striker. He could be the man to partner Calvert-Lewin in the long-term and help Leeds continue firing in front of goal.
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