Leeds United hit the jackpot last summer when they swooped to sign centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer from Everton to bolster Daniel Farke’s squad.
It was an eyebrow-raising piece of business because the English number nine was coming off the back of a disappointing campaign with the Toffees.
Calvert-Lewin scored three goals from 6.75 xG in 26 appearances in the Premier League during the 2024/25 campaign, which made his arrival at Elland Road look like a risky move for the club.
The experienced frontman exceeded all expectations, though, to score 14 goals in 35 matches in the Premier League for Farke’s side, averaging a goal every 195 minutes.
He recorded his biggest goal tally since he scored 21 goals in all competitions for Carlo Ancelotti in the 2020/21 campaign, as Leeds managed to get the best out of him at the top end of the pitch.
Leeds are the favourites to sign English Premier League talent
The Whites deserved to strike gold with Calvert-Lewin because they were willing to take a risk on him after he endured a frustrating year in the previous season.
Now, the club are looking at another England international who has struggled at times this season, and he could be the next Calvert-Lewin in West Yorkshire.
According to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, Leeds United are the “favourites” to sign Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope in the summer transfer window.
Speaking to Football Insider, Wyness said: “Leeds are favourites (for Pope), but I think they’re going to have to sell Perri, who hasn’t been a great success as well.
“He might go something around £10m or £12m. If they can get that, it would be a good deal for them, and I think Pope would be the one to come in.”
Wyness added: “There is interest for Ipswich, and that’s close, but I do expect him to end up at Leeds. I think that would be a good one for Leeds to get him in there. To me, that would be a strengthening in the position.”
It has previously been reported by The Sun that the Magpies are looking for a fee of around £5m for the veteran goalkeeper, and it is now down to Leeds to pay the asking price to bring him to Elland Road.
How Nick Pope can be Leeds United’s next Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Whilst he missed out on the final squad for the World Cup, Calvert-Lewin worked his way back into the England set-up for the March camp thanks to his form with the Whites.
Pope could look to follow in his footsteps by joining Leeds this summer, after he missed out on being one of the goalkeepers called up by Thomas Tuchel for the World Cup this summer, with Jordan Pickford, James Trafford, and Dean Henderson ahead of him.
The 34-year-old stopper has been capped ten times by England since making his debut in 2018, but his form in the Premier League this season suggests that he was deservedly left out of the World Cup squad.
25/26 PL | Nick Pope |
|---|---|
Appearances | 27 |
Clean sheets | 7 |
Save success rate | 70% |
Goals prevented | -3.50 |
Error led to shot | 2 |
Error led to goal | 3 |
Pass accuracy | 60% |
Only Robin Roefs and Bart Verbruggen (four) made more errors that led directly to goals as goalkeepers in the Premier League in the 2025/26 campaign, whilst he also made two errors that went unpunished.
Pope conceded 3.50 more goals than expected, based on the xG of the shots against his goal, which also shows that his shot-stopping was below the required level for the Magpies.
The veteran star, though, is a great player who had a bad season, much like Calvert-Lewin at Everton, rather than just being a bad player who performed as expected.
In his career in the Premier League, the £5m-rated talent has kept 82 clean sheets in 248 appearances for Newcastle and Burnley, showing that he is a vastly experienced and usually reliable goalkeeper in the top-flight.
Pope, who was once hailed as “incredible” by Pep Guardiola, prevented 0.05 goals in the 2024/25 campaign and 1.50 goals in the 2023/24 season in the Premier League, which shows that he can be a net-positive between the sticks as a shot-stopper.
Therefore, the English star has the potential to be the next Calvert-Lewin at Elland Road because Farke could help to revive another England international’s career after a drop-off in form at their previous club.
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