Everton have had what some may call a turbulent time over the last couple of seasons.
Whether that be because they're consistently finding themselves in relegation battles or because they get handed the most severe points deduction in Premier League history. You name it, Everton have more than likely experienced it.
Fortunately, for the Toffees, their ten-point deduction has now been dropped to six after a successful appeal was accepted by an independent commission.
However, although that has turned their fortunes around for this term, this still doesn't excuse the fact of their poor form over the last three Premier League campaigns.
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Since the departure of Carlo Ancelotti, who left for Real Madrid in 2021, the club have failed to finish within the top half of the table, with their highest position being 15th. Whereas, when the Italian was in charge, they managed to finish in 10th and 12th.
Granted, these positions are still not as high as what Roberto Martinez managed with the side in the 2013/14 campaign or even as high as what David Moyes managed in the 2010/11 campaign, but, they are far more respectable results than what Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche have managed to attain thus far.
One of the key reasons behind Everton's under-performance can be put down to the lack of fight and form that the squad are currently undergoing.
Of their last seven games in all competitions, The Toffees have only managed to win once in what was a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace in the replay of their third-round FA Cup tie.
In fact, the last time that Dyche's men managed to score more than one goal in a game was all the way back in December, when they faced fellow relegation battlers, Burnley, and beat Vincent Kompany's side 2-0.
This lack of goal-scoring prowess is one of the key reasons why Everton once again find themselves fighting to retain their Premier League status.
As per Toffee Web, across the 2023/24 campaign thus far, Abdoulaye Doucoure is the club's top goalscorer with six goals.
Now, although this is a more than solid return from the midfielder, having six goals be the most any player in the team has scored across the season is fairly concerning.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is supposed to be Dyche's talisman, has only managed to bag five goals this term, one of which came in this year's edition of the Carabao Cup.
With this in mind, there's no wonder that the 11-capped England striker has now seen his value plummet.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin's transfer value in 2024
As per Football Transfers, Calvert-Lewin has an estimated transfer value of around just £8m. Although this fee is likely on the lower end of the scale of what Everton would demand for him, it puts into perspective how poor he has been of late.
The striker has been Dyche's main point of attack this season, with the 26-year-old playing a total of 28 games across all competitions this term.
This number would have likely been much higher if he hadn't suffered a couple of injuries at the start of the season.
The absences in question have ruled the former Sheffield United man out for a total of five games. One of those missed came from an incident that the attacker suffered towards the back-end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Missing five games may seem like a lot for most players, but, in the case of Calvert-Lewin, this is a fairly consistent theme.
During the 6 foot 2 striker's time with the Toffees, he has been a common visitor to the treatment room. In fact, since the 2016/17 season, he has missed 81 games through injury, with a large bulk of those coming in the 2021/22 campaign.
2020/21
Muscle
3
2020/21
Hamstring
2
2021/22
Broken toe
32
2022/23
Knee
8
2022/23
Hamstring
3
2022/23
Hamstring
3
2023/24
Cheek
4
Data via Transfermarkt.
This injury couldn't have come at a worse time for the England international as he was just coming off the back of his most prolific season ever after managing to bag 21 goals in all competitions.
Unsurprisingly, this term was the last of which Ancelotti was in charge of the club. The Italian entrusted the youngster to help carry his team to their best finish in the last five years of tenth.
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Calvert-Lewin impressed the Real Madrid manager so much that he tried to plot a raid on his former club for a fee worth somewhere in the region of £50m for the then-England international.
When Ancelotti wanted Calvert-Lewin to join him in Madrid
For a lot of players in world football, the fee of £50m is a threshold that they will likely never reach.
However, as aforementioned, whilst in charge of the Toffees, the now 64-year-old managed to get the best out of the Everton striker that anyone before or after him has managed.
But, why on earth would Ancelotti want to spend £50m on a player who has had two strong seasons out of six?
The only time Calvert-Lewin has managed to hit double-figure returns in the goals department was when Ancelotti was his coach.
It was evident to see that the Italian knew exactly how to play to his strengths and the perfect way to extract the most out of the striker possible with the manager hailing him:
"He is a complete striker. It is not easy to find a striker with these characteristics," said Ancelotti.
"He has a lot of energy, is really fast. I am really pleased he is doing well and scoring goals because at the end a striker is judged on the goals he scores. It's a great achievement for him [the England call-up]. I hope it will not be the last. It depends on him. He is doing really well. He needs to have consistency."
In a separate interview, the Italian delved deeper into the characteristics Calvert-Lewin possesses which make him the "complete striker."
"He is fast, has good skills, is strong in the air and works extremely hard for the team. He also has a fantastic mentality, and his desire to improve has impressed me ever since I came to the club," he said.
"Dominic has all the attributes to become one of the best strikers in England and in Europe."
Despite receiving this amount of praise from the only manager to ever win each of Europe's top five leagues, due to the injuries he sustained which stopped his momentum and due to Everton losing some key players over the years, the striker has yet to fulfil the hype in which Ancelotti surrounded him with. Indeed, perhaps the regret cashing in a few years ago when his market value was so high.
