Dominic Calvert-Lewin says tweets he received from Sheffield United fans ahead of his move to Everton ‘still cuts deep’. Speaking about his career and online abuse, he says he still remembers the move and how he used comments directed to him on social media as motivation to prove his doubters wrong.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin said “I experienced it at Sheffield United, where there were rumours that Everton were coming in for me and I was going there for a million pounds. At that time, I am a kid who uses social media like Twitter. Sheffield United fans were saying they would walk and carry me there, wanting me to go. As a boyhood Sheffield United fan, that still cuts me deep. That’s not how I envisioned my Sheffield United career going. One thing I would say to young players is to flip it on its head and use it as motivation to prove people wrong, that is what I have always tried to do. I went to Everton, and it’s levels – the higher up you get, you are under more and more scrutiny as a football player. You have to learn to deal with it at that scale and gradually progress to be able to deal with it at an even higher scale.”
The 24-year-old has found the net 51 times for the Toffees following his £1million move in 2016 aged just 19. The Sheffield-born Blades fan had come through the United academy and had impressed on loan at Northampton prior to his sale. Supporters hadn’t really seen enough of the youngster, having started just three games at the time of his departure, but he has gone on to show why so many coaches at Shirecliffe rated him so highly. The decision to sell the youngster has very much come back to haunt the club.
