Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
When Manchester United fans first saw reports linking them with a move for former Everton forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin, you could excuse them if it did not set their pulses racing.
In a summer where signing a new forward has been deemed a major transfer priority after their struggles in front of goal last season, signing a forward with a chequered injury record on a free transfer is hardly the transformative move they need to make.
United scored 44 Premier League goals last season which was the fifth worst record in the Premier League. Only the three relegated teams and Everton, who Calvert-Lewin played for, scored less.
The England international scored three goals last season and hasn't hit double figures in a single season for four years, largely down to his injury troubles.
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Given Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee managed just seven league goals between them last season, United need a forward who will guarantee goals by the bucket load next season. United cannot pin those hopes on Calvert-Lewin.
However, it might be worth taking a punt on the 28-year-old as a backup forward, providing they sign a big name forward, too.
It is only four years ago Calvert-Lewin was in the England squad that reached the final of the European Championships.
Under Carlo Ancelotti, Calvert-Lewin scored 21 goals in the 2020/21 season. He was fit, firing and scoring goals and playing with a team who played to his strengths.
The challenge for whatever new club the former Sheffield United forward ends up at is to try and regain that consistency of playing games regularly and scoring goals.
If Ruben Amorim can achieve that, then it might well be a risk worth taking, particularly if one or both of Hojlund and Zirkzee move elsewhere this summer.
United continue to be linked with mega moves for the likes of Victor Osimhen, Viktor Gyokeres, Hugo Ekitike or Ollie Watkins.
Any of those four players would be an expensive transfer to make but they are also proven goalscorers at the top level.
If Calvert-Lewin does arrive at United it cannot be instea of a move for one of those players but rather to complement it.