Carlo Ancelotti's simple advice transformed Dominic Calvert-Lewin amid Newcastle United links

Carlo Ancelotti's simple advice helped propel Dominic Calvert-Lewin to become the hottest striker in European football In the 2020/21 season.

Prior to the now Real Mardrid boss' arrival at Goodison Park, the 27-year-old had never broken the double figures barrier for goals in a single season. But he burst on to the scene by scoring 10 goals inside the first month of the 2020/21 campaign. Nine goals for Everton (six in the Premier League and a hat-trick in the Carabao Cup) were followed by a goal on his England debut.

Injuries have continued to plague Calvert-Lewin since, but he has now been linked with a summer move to Newcastle United. The striker only has one more year remaining on his current deal at Goodison Park and, with finances tight at the Merseyside club, they could decide to sell.

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The striker learned a lot from working with Italian legend Ancelotti, who revealed the key advice he passed on to him during his spell at Goodison Park. And it's something that would benefit Newcastle should they firm up their interest in Calvert-Lewin.

"I had a fantastic striker in Filippo Inzaghi, who scored 300 goals and 210 with one touch," Ancelotti said. "A striker has to be focused in the box and I think Calvert-Lewin understands really well because in the box he has speed, he jumps really high, he has power. Where he has improved more is there, in the box."

Of his 10 goals in that 2020 spell, all but one have been inside the box and a one touch finish. The other, his first goal against West Ham in the Carabao Cup was a two-touch finish on the edge of the area. Calvert-Lewin heeded the advice, studied Inzaghi's YouTube highlight reels and reaped the rewards.

"Carlo Ancelotti is on me every day for first-touch finishes and to be in the box, in the right areas," Calvert-Lewin said at the time. "It's nice to know what I'm working on in training is coming off on the pitch.

"Beforehand, I was guilty of doing a lot of my best work away from the goal. But now I am getting in between the sticks and putting the ball in the back of the net. That analogy from Carlo was more of an emphasis on being in the right place at the right time, not to say I am a carbon copy of Pippo Inzaghi but there are elements of his game that I have been showing in my game and they are one-touch finishes and being in the right areas to put the ball in the back of the net."