Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin made the 25-man nomination list for the 2017 Golden Boy award, joining 5 other Premier League starlets aged 21 and below to vie for the topmost footballing prize for young players.
Liverpool’s Dominic Solanke and Joe Gomez, Tottenham’s Kyle Walker-Peters, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford are the other EPL players on the list.
However, France internationals Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele remain favourites, while AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma could also be voted winner due to his performances over the last year.
Calvert-Lewin, 20, helped England under-20’s to the youth World Cup few months ago, and considering he assisted both of Everton’s league goals till date, it’s surprising that manager Ronald Koeman isn’t giving him enough minutes.
Indeed, the academy graduate has had a hand in 3 of all the 4 goals the Toffees have managed to grab across all competitions this season.
Everton are yet to lose anytime DCL starts and completes a game this term, and a Golden Boy nomination only further buttresses a point – he deserves a permanent spot in the team’s XI.
The youngster even excelled in a right wing-back role when deployed there in against Stoke City, so, apparently, he’s not just only able to top-strike.
Chances are Everton’s struggles might not have existed had Koeman found a way to effectively utilize Calvert-Lewin in the first place, and he must be actively involved in the plans if the team really want a top 6 finish this term.
