Dominic Calvert-Lewin makes winner claim as Aston Villa transfer interest builds after Everton exit
The striker, who has 11 caps for England, is also reportedly being tracked by Newcastle and Manchester United
Villa target ‘ready for whatever comes’ as club look to beat Manchester United to deal(Image: Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images.)
Free agent England international Dominic Calvert-Lewin insists that “whatever happens, I want to win” as Aston Villa weigh up a move for the former Everton striker.
The 28-year-old brought an end to a nine-year stay on Merseyside this summer and is attracting interest from across the Premier League.
Villa boss Unai Emery is understood to be keen on adding depth to the club’s attacking ranks this summer, and a move for the free agent would offer a cost-effective solution.
The six-foot-two-inch striker managed three Premier League goals in the last campaign, which was hampered by injuries that forced him to miss 14 games for the Toffees.
In his most prolific form at Goodison Park, Calvert-Lewin notched 16 league goals during the 2020/2021 season and is keen to replicate those performances, which earned him a spot in the national team set-up.
“The main thing for me is, I want to win,” he told the High Performance podcast, co-hosted by Jake Humphries, when discussing his next club.
“Wherever I play, I want to win, and I want that environment to be a winning environment. After the last three or four seasons [with Everton], it’s been a lot of survival.”
Villa finished sixth last season, just missing out on Champions League football despite an impressive quarter-final run on their return to top-flight European football.
Loanees Marcus Rashford, now of Barcelona, and Marco Asensio, still at PSG, both returned to their parent clubs following impressive stints at Villa Park, leaving attacking holes that need to be plugged.
Both Newcastle and Manchester United have also been linked with Calvert-Lewin, who underlined the importance of eventually playing Champions League football in his career, with clubs such as AC Milan looking to lure him away from the Premier League.
He added: “They [getting into the England squad and playing Champions League football] are the main factors that come in…to decide potentially where that place will be and if it has those things that give me the best opportunity, the best environment, to win and score goals
