‘He’d be a fantastic signing for Manchester United’ – Rio Ferdinand heaps praise on Everton star – originally posted on Sportslens.com
Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been in outstanding form for the Toffees this season and his development under the management of Carlo Ancelotti has been quite impressive.
Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand believes that the Everton striker would be a fantastic addition to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s attack.
He said: “I’ve watched a lot of Everton this year and he’s one that unnerves defenders. He’s not one you want to play against week in, week out. He’s aggressive, he attacks the ball,” Ferdinand said (via Eurosport).
“I was speaking to Carlo Ancelotti earlier this year and he mentioned [Filippo] Inzaghi and said he didn’t need many chances to score goals and he scores goals in and around the six-yard box.
“I look at Calvert-Lewin this season and he’s listened to that, he’s taken that on board. Obviously, he seems a real good student of the game and he’s started putting that into his own game.
“We’ve seen the rewards he’s had, he’s got into the England squad by scoring loads of goals in and around the six-yard box, scoring those ugly goals. I think he’d be a fantastic signing for Manchester United.
“It’s one out of left field a little bit but I think he’d have a big impact. He’d get on the end of the things created by [Bruno] Fernandes, [Paul] Pogba, [Marcus] Rashford, [Mason] Greenwood, etc.”
Manchester United have the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood at their disposal but they could still use a traditional number nine next season.
The likes of Martial and Rashford are more suited to a wider role and United need to sign someone who can put away the number of chances they create every week. The 24-year-old has scored 19 goals in all competitions so far this season.
The Everton star can lead the line for the Red Devils if they manage to sign him. His all-round play has improved immensely over the past year and he is good at bringing others into play.
Calvert-Lewin’s present upfront could help the likes of Bruno Fernandes as well. He can hold up the ball and drag defenders away from his teammates with his movement. The Everton star is very good in the air as well.
That said, he is a key player for Everton and it is highly unlikely that the Toffees will agree to sell him to a Premier League rival.
Everton will be hoping to qualify for European football under Ancelotti and they cannot afford to cash in on their key players.
It will be interesting to see if Manchester United can sign a quality striker at the end of the season. Uruguayan international Edinson Cavani joined the club on a short term deal but the striker is expected to move on in the summer.