I never stopped believing - Calvert-Lewin

When Dominic Calvert-Lewin left Everton last summer after nine years with the club, he could be forgiven for being a little fearful of what his future held.

The striker struggled with injuries in the latter stages of his Toffees career and managed just three goals in his final season, meaning whoever did sign him was likely taking a bit of a risk.

But that gamble has paid off for Leeds, with Calvert-Lewin having revived his career with an excellent scoring run under Daniel Farke, scoring seven goals in his past six games.

That form has also led to talk of his return to the England squad and possibly even a place at the 2026 World Cup - something that seemed very unlikely just six months ago.

Calvert-Lewin sat down with BBC Sport's Betty Glover to talk about his return to goalscoring, the reality of being a free agent and his England chances.

After almost a decade at Everton, the change of scenery has clearly done Calvert-Lewin the world of good.

With nine Premier League goals he has outscored big-money arrivals like Hugo Ekitike, Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko.

"I just felt like I needed a fresh start," he said.

"I think that I'd gone from a 19-year-old boy to a 28-year-old man and deep down a fresh start is what I felt like I needed.

"So obviously when communication started with Leeds, I felt that this was the place for me to come in and thrive and get back to my best level."

Key for Calvert-Lewin has been the faith Farke has shown in him.

The German coach said recently that he had always been a big fan of Calvert-Lewin and would always sign him if the opportunity presented itself.

"I had a phone call with him one or two days before I signed and he spoke for maybe 30 minutes," Calvert-Lewin said of his first conversation with Farke.

"I was just listening and his personality came through. I could tell that he was a caring person and he cared about his players, and he was just emphasising how he wanted to get me back to my best level.

"That relationship's just grown and grown and grown.

"You know he has a human side, which I think that then gets the players to be more attentive to the messaging and ultimately makes us play better."

Calvert-Lewin added: "The thing about players needing an arm around them - some players need shouting out to get the best out of them, I'm a player that needs a bit of both.

"Where I was at in my career six months ago, he's the type of manager that I needed."

Calvert-Lewin's scoring run this season means he could match - or even surpass - his best-ever Premier League tally of 16 goals, which he achieved in the 2020-21 season.

That was the second campaign in a row where he achieved double figures at Everton, but injuries and a drop in form in front of goal meant he never came close to hitting those sorts of numbers again at the Toffees.

But Calvert-Lewin has no regrets over how things went for his final few seasons at Everton.

"It's made me who I am today," he added. "It is part of my story.

"I think that, nowadays, you've got to score 20 goals every season for 15 or 20 seasons, and maybe a handful of players are capable of doing that.

"I'm playing in the toughest but best league in the world, so conditions sometimes are important, and for me I had the momentum.

"But the momentum was stopped with injuries and it was hard to build that momentum again.

"I guess I go back to having a strong mindset, a strong will, to just keep pushing and keep going.

"It's all part of the journey."

Last summer marked the first time Calvert-Lewin had experienced being without a club following his departure from Everton.

With a potentially interested team not having to negotiate any fees for an out-of-contract player, they can afford to take their time before offering a free transfer player a contract.

"Because I was free, it's almost like they think they can wait, so you end up waiting a little bit longer than what you would like," Calvert-Lewin added.

"Teams take their time with you because they know you're kind of there.

"Even though you have multiple people that you're speaking to, it's almost like getting that over the line is the hardest part.

"Then you would see someone move for £40-50m and you are left scratching your head a little bit and thinking: 'Well I don't cost anything.'

"One thing you can't do is let your ego take a hit, because this is life.

"You have to have humility and just understand that everyone's journey is different. If you maintain that belief that what's meant for you won't pass you by, then you can have confidence that the right opportunity will arise."

The right opportunity did arise and Calvert-Lewin's form for Leeds has seen him return to discussion about the England squad.

He is a top-scoring English striker in the Premier League and, despite not playing for the Three Lions since 2021, he has never stopped believing he could one day be recalled to the international team.

Asked if he ever believed he would be in the World Cup conversation, he said: "Of course. Not in like an arrogant way but sometimes momentum, circumstances and belief in yourself - that if I can do it once I can do it again.

"All it would take was the right circumstances, and timing is also important, and I believed that I could get back into that conversation.

"I still believed it when I was pushing my daughter on the swing in the summer [while out of contract] and I think if I would have stopped believing it, maybe I wouldn't be having this conversation with you now."

England will play Uruguay and Japan at Wembley in March in their final two games before head coach Thomas Tuchel chooses his squad for the 2026 World Cup.

Calvert-Lewin knows there's still plenty of football to be played before then and is determined to keep up his good form.

"I'm not there yet," he said.

"There's still six or seven games between now and March. A lot can happen.

"The amount of quality of English players is phenomenal these days, so the competition is there. But you could say for me the pinnacle would be getting back into the England team and being in the World Cup squad."