Leeds already have their next Calvert-Lewin; he’s “going to the very top”

It was not that long ago that it looked like Dominic Calvert-Lewin was a poor piece of business by Leeds United during the summer transfer window.

The former England international joined on a free transfer from Everton, reportedly on £100k-per-week, and only scored one goal in his first 11 appearances of the campaign, missing nine ‘big chances’ in that time, per Sofascore.

Since then, though, the ex-Toffees centre-forward has plundered an eye-catching six goals in five appearances in the Premier League, which has taken him to seven league goals for the season.

How Dominic Calvert-Lewin has ignited his Leeds career

Leeds started the season playing a 4-3-3 formation and, essentially, attempted to soft-launch themselves in the top-flight by playing a slightly more reserved version of the 4-2-3-1 system and style of football that led them to 100 points in the Championship.

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With Leeds in the relegation zone heading into home games against Chelsea and Liverpool, Daniel Farke opted to change the formation to a 3-5-2 and started to play more direct and aggressive football to chase results.

Since he first utilised the formation, at half-time against Man City, Calvert-Lewin has scored six goals in four-and-a-half matches, clearly benefitting from the new style.

As shown in the graphic above, the English striker needs service into the middle of the box to thrive, and that is what the new system has generated, with more set-pieces and crosses into the box for the towering forward to attack.

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Now, Calvert-Lewin looks undroppable for the newly-promoted side, having previously looked like a flop, and Farke may be thinking about how they will ever replace him.

The Leeds teen who could replace Calvert-Lewin

Leeds will need to replace the former Everton man at some point, as with every other player, in the future, and they may already have the perfect long-term replacement in their academy.

17-year-old striker Harry Gray has made the bench for one Premier League match, the 3-1 win over Wolves, this season, but is yet to make his top-flight bow for the club.

The teenage centre-forward made his first-team debut as a 16-year-old against Stoke City in the Championship last season, which shows that he is in Farke’s thoughts.

Gray deserves to be in the German manager’s thoughts for the first-team because his form at academy level for the Whites as a centre-forward has been incredibly impressive.

The England youth international has plundered ten goals and two assists in 13 appearances in all competitions in the 2025/26 campaign, per Transfermarkt, which includes a hat-trick against Scunthorpe in the National League Cup.

Gray has shown that he can deliver goals at an incredible rate as a striker at youth level, which suggests that he may have the potential to provide as much of a threat as Calvert-Lewin has in the first-team this season.

As you can see in the table above, the 17-year-old striker has scored goals in almost every competition that he has made more than one appearance in, which speaks to how prolific he has been in the academy.

Como scout Ben Mattinson once stated that Gray is “going to the very top” and that he is “one of England’s best prospects in his generation”. It is hard to argue with that assessment when you look at the numbers he has put up for the U18s and the U21s.

Leeds have a right to get excited about the English marksman and the potential that he has to develop into a first-team star in the future, because of how impressive he has been as a goalscorer for the academy.

Whilst Calvert-Lewin is currently thriving as a goalscorer in the first-team in the Premier League, Leeds are already brewing their long-term replacement for him in Gray.

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