When Dominic Calvert-Lewin could get first Leeds United minutes as boss issues timeframe warning
Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin completed his move to Leeds United on Friday afternoon.
Whites boss Daniel Farke has provided an indication of when new striker signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin might get his first Leeds United minutes.
Leeds unveiled 28-year-old striker Calvert-Lewin as their eighth signing of the summer on Friday afternoon, the England capped forward joining on a free transfer upon leaving Everton this summer.
The striker made 273 appearances and scored 71 goals during nine years with the Toffees but the forward suffered a hamstring injury in January and thereafter played just 21 minutes from the bench in the final month of the 2024-25 campaign.
His new club will ironically finally begin life back in the Premier League with Monday night’s clash against his former side Everton at Elland Road for which the striker will be eligible to play if he was registered before 12pm on Friday. Leeds announced the signing of Calvert-Lewin at 2.15pm on Friday afternoon.
Farke, though, was warned that a player would normally need several weeks of training before reaching the required fitness levels and that perhaps after the international break was a realistic estimate of when Calvert-Lewin might be ready.
That, however, is not to say that the new striker might not feature sooner, Farke to make that decision based on what he sees from him in training. The new signing joined his new team mates for his first team training session on Friday afternoon.
Speaking at Friday’s pre-Everton press conference, Farke was asked how long it would be before his club’s fans could see him in a Leeds shirt.
“We'll see him in a training shirt,” said Farke. “They will see him... No, it's behind closed doors.
“But they would see him on the training pitch today because this afternoon he will join our team training for the first time. Then we decide from day to day.
“That's also different in comparison to team training and tactical training”
“Obviously, he had the summer break. Obviously, he missed more or less like five and a half weeks of pre-season training. He had individual training, but that's also different in comparison to team training and tactical training.
“Normally you would say he needs a couple of weeks before he's back to a fitness where you can represent him also in the shirt, but he's also a proven player, experienced player, and it depends also a bit on how his body reacts, also depends a bit on what I realise in terms of his performance on the training pitch, when he will support us.
“Then also for the first competitive a game normally you would say you need a couple of weeks or perhaps after the first international break a bit more realistic that he's then back on the level back for Premier League games.
“But I still also hope that it goes perhaps even a bit quicker and he, we won't rush it too much and risk an re-injury or whatever.
“He's fit since he was also back in training for the last games for Everton last season so he has trained individually but until he's then really match fit it will last a few days and then we'll see when we can use him for the first time.”