I had about given up on him as a Premier League finisher, my feeling was that his role with Sean Dyche frustrated his best efforts, and we were done with each other.

I won't begrudge him a second coming, just not against us please...

The Live Forum should sell tickets.

Next season, he'll be at the biggest club in the Championship

Could have been playing in a fantastic new stadium, with Grealish and KDH.

Instead, he's playing at a crumbling Elland Road with a far worse team.

Paul H, I agree with you. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Would be interesting to see how much he's getting paid at Leeds compared to what we were offering...as long as he is happy. Interested to hear his signing-on interview. Being a smart guy, he'll get the tone right.

" a DCL hatrick"

The first... a thunderbolt from well outside the box.

The second... a mazy run which takes out three defenders and ends with an unerring finish into the top corner from an acute angle.

And the third, a one on... naw nothing to fear here.

Got me thinking of USM and Usmanov.

Now relegation favourites beckon. And maybe even second or even third choice. Wonder if he's on more than a year contract. Fan forums are worried about biscuit like tendency and about getting a 'new Bamford'.

Pleased that Calvert-Lewin has found a club. Injury free, maybe now, and injury free, he can get his head back on football. I'm sure he will get a decent reception when he returns to Everton.

Not quite meeting his criteria of wanting to play for a team challenging for Champions League, but at least he'll be back to playing football.

Like others, I was expecting him to be picked up by Newcastle Utd or Man Utd as a back-up striker or go abroad tbh, to join a team playing in Europe. Yes, he's a Yorkshire lad but to go to Leeds and fight relegation for a season – I thought he was looking for a change, ha ha ha!!!

Wish him well as I was a fan of his but no wonder he sacked his agent as he's royally cocked up this move.

Don't like his attitude to Everton tbh.

This is one reason why there were lots of dry eyes in the McNulty household once DCL decided to move on.

I wonder how easily he will pass his medical? If he does play against us and is involved in a one-on-one, a star will rise in the East if he scores.

Have they still got that other injured all the time striker to go with their new injured all the time striker? Bamford wasn't it?

What do they know?

Hope DCL proves everyone wrong.

I wish him well and hope he continues to operate in the premier league, I don’t care if he scores against us next Monday as long as we win.

I also understood why he would want a change given the crap football that he got to 'spearhead' for so long.

I was convinced he must have had an overseas deal tied up when he announced his departure. As it is, he's taken a backward step at a time when Everton have added the creative players he must have craved when he was in blue.

Just odd. But good luck to him, after Monday.

He won't be fit enough to do 90 minutes….

The money can't be that much that it would make a difference to him, surely.

Wish he had stayed and I hope he does well, but not against us.

Christy, I'm thinking he's saying, why the fk didn't I stay at Everton.

1-2 to the Mighty Blues. Grealish to score the winner!

He's also been referred to as 'ACL' instead of 'DCL' which is pretty funny really.

It seems the view of him from the outside is one of gentle derision.

Leeds fans are not happy.

As to the 130k wages I assume that’s why he sacked his agent cause apparently they baulked at his demands last month. Presumably he went back and asked for a more reasonable sum. I think his agent filled his head with nonsense given his comments about leaving Everton for champions league and trophy. That ship sailed after the Ancelotti season.

I doubt he will play Monday as he’s had no pre season. Grealish at least was still employed by a club so training as normal if not featuring in pre season matches. Presumably it will need a few u21 or behind closed door games to get DCL match fit.

Hats off to them, they're really going for it, they've stolen our Crown Jewels… but I wish them all the luck in the world.

I feel a bit sorry for Harrison Leeds fan hate him cause of that video of his Mum saying she hopes he doesn’t go back to Leeds. No fault of his. He seems like a decent pro he’s just not that good. I don’t think he’s a villain deserving of booing in the Maupay mold.

I can never forgive Dominic turning his nose up at a new contract after being nurtured for 3 years and hardly playing a game for us.

The only difference being they think the similarity is they're both shite.

He must surely be regretting leaving us now?

Chances of DCL scoring against us may have just improved slightly.

When he left I assumed he must have had a club lined up.

But it does it now look like he wanted out of Everton regardless of where he might end up? Maybe the treatment of him did have an effect.

We'll never know, of course.

Best of luck to him. He always gave us his best.

I recall we offered to extend his contract so we must have wanted to keep him, but not at £130k.

No wonder his legs went. His only role, in his latter years at Everton, was to try and out jump two giant centre-halves after a long punt upfield by Pickford.

All the best, Dom. And wear whatever the fuck you want to in the future.

Obviously we don't know the ins and outs of the deal on offer but surely he could have earned similarly with us whilst playing better football in a new stadium? I imagine his ego will have taken a dent that nobody in the Champions League wanted him, not even in Turkey! Regardless I wish him well.

He only seemed to go flat out for 2 games a season, the rs and Arsenal.

Now he's moved it'll be 3 a season, with us being the third.

He's sacked his agent and got a good deal cash wise.

He can go 110% balls out Vs us and then get to know the new physios better while his dosh mounts up in the bank.

If he only has 1 blinder in a season, we all know who it will be against.

If he does that and never kicks a ball for Leeds ( dirty dirty leeds) he might count that as a job well done in the revenge stakes.

Got to be worth a tenner for first scorer.

I bet he's signed a shorter deal and less wages than our offer, with a club that will be in a relegation dogfight.

My niece is a sports physio and her view is that some bodies simply can't cope with the pressures put on them by elite sport. Could be due to a number of reasons, physiological, genetic, body shape etc.

Hope Branthwaite isn't one.

He will play some part in Monday's game and will probably score. You all know how it goes with strikers who haven't scored against us and he hasn't ever. 😂

Perhaps he has gone for first team football opportunities with a club close to family.

I assumed he'd get a move to a better placed club (home or abroad) where he would be one of a few forward options from the bench. Suits his standard and injury record. Wonder what his other offers were.

At Leeds, I think there is a good chance he will be reunited with Dyche this season - with the current manager sacked by the January window for shipping too many goals.

Shame in a way because he could have done well under Moyes alongside better players as we rebuild the squad. But I think both parties probably needed a ch a change.

I’m pretty sure Koeman played him right back on one occasion, didn’t he?

Get on the No Red Shite Here league, much better.

Held Everton to ransom, thought he could do even better and ends up at Leeds earning less.

He must feel like a right pillock.

Also seems to have been primarily about wages and greed too. Good riddance.

Listening to Moyes today, he was looking for massive wages, and I agree he's definitely on less money than we offered, and Leeds were never in his plans. Beggars can't be choosers, sadly.

He certainly put them on the table over DCL, despite his kind eulogy he wanted to bleed the club, I wish him well but glad he has gone. Good luck with Leeds??

Beto got a huge defensive thumbs up and support from the Manager, who respects his hard work and willing to learn. Beto will score a lot of goals this will really be his breakout season.

I don't think it will be long before that right side is sorted, plus a number 6 brought in.

Will be a tough game there Monday. If we had our full defence I'd be relaxed. The thought of Keane in a bouncing Elland Rd scares me.

Is Myko fit? Are we looking at 3 centre-backs? McNeil and Garner as wingbacks?

Get £100M player for next to nothing and still we are looking at crisis mode before a ball been kicked. Wouldn't be Everton if we weren't fighting something or someone.

Whether you agree or not, he might believe he was played up front in some dreadfully defensive teams, mismanaged by the medical team, rushed back into the side repeatedly, taunted by fans for his fashion choices, had his mental health publicly questioned by his manager, and had his wife abused by online trolls.

Maybe he just wanted to get out. I wouldn't have believed it because he never said anything but good things about Everton and Evertonians, but leaving without a deal agreed elsewhere does smack of a guy being prepared to take his chances rather than stay.

The glee from some fans in him struggling for a team and then turning up at a newly promoted team isn't a good look, in my opinion. And shows a lack of any kind of collective self reflection.

He's made the decision to move on and show some class in his words, and a portion of our fans would be well advised to do the same.

Ernie I didn't say DCL shouldn't have left, souldnt have run his contract down, shouldn't have carried s handbag or worn a skirt.

I said he had been badly advised.

In my opinion, he's gone from us an established PL club( one fighting relagation year on year)

To Leeds ( one yo yoing year on year )

Fair enough if you feel your time is done and move on.

To be without a Club at his stage of his career was a bit strange.

Everton, by Moyes statement wanted him to stay.

I always liked him, tried hid best, put his body on the line, gsve his all, in some terrible teams and times.

But he was no isakk, he was no haaland.

He could potentially have had his best season here with the signings we've made.

Good luck to the lad. Just not Monday!

We don't necessarily know the full story - hence the glee from some isn't a good look. And there is another thread on here that is full of glee.

Firing one's agent in the middle of a transfer window is highly unusual.

I think some blues would love to believe he sacked his agent while saying through tears... you made me leave the club I loved, we should have taken the lower wage, you said I was too good for Everton.

It could be true, but it's probably just a bit comfortable for Evertonians to believe. Big life decisions tend to be a bit more nuanced.

What we do know is what you reminded us on, abuse of his wife, derision of his choices outside football, and abuse on the pitch playing as a lone attacker for Sean Dyche. Let me say that again, a lone attacker for Sean Dyche. The man who was sacked because of his inability to get the best out of the players we had. David Moyes proved that.

For years he has been the only striker we have had and scored some beauts. His injury record in the past few season is not great, but again, the pressure on him to return as the only forward was immense. It didn't help, and probably contributed.

He is gone. It's the best thing for him and us, but he served us well. The stats might say one thing but they do not show the quality of the manager he was playing for, or the players around him that were supposed to provide chances.

The striker's life is a game of averages, get three chances, score one. We were lucky to get single chances in most games under Dyche. Remember that?

You can’t blame Dyche for the pitiful attempts one one-on-one. A striker being paid over £100k a week.

You can’t blame Dyche for his failings. He’s shite in front of goal, sorry.

I personally believe he never recovered from the boos he got when he fractured his cheekbone. No real coming back from that and you are right Ernie, we are the ones who should be reflecting on that. We have some of the best support in the land but I'd love for us to find a way to stop turning on our own sometimes.

I am rooting for Dom to do well (just not against us, though I wouldn't be surprised if he was a real handful Monday night!) and yes I imagine he is not where he'd hoped he be but had to leave.

He had run his contract down, was made an offer to stay, but the club and player couldn't agree.

He did spend a lot of his time at Everton playing as an isolated and frustrated Everton striker. He won't have enjoyed that much. Probably his only consistently productive run was under Ancelotti.

As for the fashion display, I found that irrelevant to the debate about him as a footballer. There may have been mutterings around Old Trafford when Beckham embarked on his fashion career, but they were supportive of the footballer.

Injuries are injuries and they happen. I often think due to the nature of our paper thin squad, the way he was asked to play and his style of play, he was run into the ground from a young age, which may have contributed.

Then a few tipping points.

Booed by a few of his own supporters for having to go off at Villa Park with a facial injury after a collision with their goalkeeper.

And what happened to his wife. The internet is a tool that provides information at our fingertips, brings people together and keeps people in touch. Unfortunately some "brave" keyboard warriors use it to hurl abuse. Fortunately, as the couple joined the squad on the lap of appreciation at the last Goodison fixture, they got a warm reception and both applauded the supporters back.

Finally, maybe it was just time to go. £1.5m, and gave us the best part of 10 years. He's not our player any more. He never hit the heights of expectation, but neither did the Everton teams he played in.

I just thought that Dom was completely delusional.

DCL's agent appeared to have an inflated sense of his worth. DCL himself appeared to be somewhat delusional about where his career was and is after all the injuries and struggles in front of goal, before reality came knocking.

Agree with your last sentence.
Dcls header v Palace & header v lpool will live long in the memory.

I wish he stays fit and enjoys the rest of his career, just not too much when he plays against us!

The one thing we do need to act upon as a club is identifying which players are running their contracts down and get shut off them for a fee. We have lost a fortune on them.

Calvert-Lewin is apparently on £80,000 a week, the poor lad should have stayed with us, don't know how he'll manage on that.

The Newcastle links probably swayed his thinking; ironically, the Barcodes don't have a single centre-forward in their squad now.

Timing is so key in these situations. They are probably thinking he would have been a good squad player now.

I feel Dom and Everton missed the real peak of his attraction to other teams before he had his long injury. Everton missed the opportunity to cash in!

Leeds could be good for him. For most teams, success is judged totally differently. Scoring 10 and Leeds staying up, they would probably love him, 10 for us and we would be looking at his wages thinking "Is that value?"

Is he getting more wages at Leeds? Who knows?

I think Barry will contribute more goals this season, Beto was better last season, so I'm not worried we will miss him. He will miss Everton more!

He should be welcome back after he's finished playing. He's not a legend, but he's part of some real amazing memories of this club!

Over the years I’ve had my pet hates (nothing personal) eg Iwobi, Pembridge, John McGlaughlin, Bryan Hamilton etc… Simply because they were all shite.

DCL played out of position. Played up top on his own. Received no service at all. Never had any support etc… I loved the lad for the effort he put in in every game. He never hid. He never shirked. He never disrespected the club but for some he’s the devil incarnate.

I wish him nothing but the best.