An English club receives a severe shock on the eve of the start of the Premier League
Everton were dealt a major blow on the eve of the start of the new season of the English Football Championship, with international striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin losing for six weeks due to injury, manager Frank Lampard announced today.
The 25-year-old suffered what Lampard described as a "strange" knee injury during training in preparation for the first game in the Premier League against Chelsea on Saturday at "Goodison Park".
Calvert-Lewin's injury is a big blow to Lampard and his attacking line, which lost the efforts of the Brazilian Richarlison, who moved this summer to Tottenham, while the Venezuelan Salomon Rondo will miss the match against Chelsea on Saturday due to suspension.
"Losing a player of Dominic's quality in the week that we play our first game will affect you without a doubt. We are talking about a possible absence of six weeks with this type of injury..." Lampard said.
Calvert-Lewin missed four months last season due to a muscle injury that forced him to make just 17 Premier League games, but one of his five goals proved crucial to keeping his side among the elite, with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace in May. .
Calvert-Lewin is also expected to miss league matches against Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Leeds United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Lampard admitted that he was looking to enhance his attacking options, with Chelsea's Albanian striker Armando Proya as one of his goals, but "I won't talk about individuals as other targets, but in that area of the field (front line), yes, it is clear that we know what we have."
"We lost Richarlison, who was a multi-talented front-line player. I know we signed Dwight (McNeil from Burnley), but we know where we want to strengthen."
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