Leeds United's aim for the 2026/27 campaign should be kicking on to compete for European football after they finished 14th in the Premier League last season.

One of the players whose form could be key to them achieving that goal is centre-forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored 14 goals in the division last term.

The England international was the only player in the squad who reached double figures for goals in the Premier League, which illustrates just how important he was to Daniel Farke's side.

They swooped to sign the attacker on a free transfer from Everton after his contract on Merseyside came to an end, and it turned out to be a bargain deal for the club.

What Leeds can learn from Dominic Calvert-Lewin's success

There is an important lesson to learn from Calvert-Lewin's success at Elland Road because it was not a universally celebrated piece of business when it was announced last summer.

The 29-year-old striker was fresh off the back of a dismal campaign with the Toffees in the Premier League, as he missed a staggering 16 'big chances' on his way to scoring three goals in 26 matches.

Leeds were willing to look past his recent struggles at the time and backed themselves to get the best out of the forward, who had previously scored 36 goals in all competitions for Everton in the 2019/20 and 20/21 campaigns combined.

They did not write him off because of his form in the 2024/25 campaign, when other teams may have done, and they were richly rewarded for their faith in the experienced striker with his haul of 14 league goals last term.

The lesson to be learned from this, therefore, is that targets or signings should not be written off based on their recent form, as players can end up in unfortunate situations where they are not in the right environment to shine.

Leeds enter talks to sign their next Calvert-Lewin

This important lesson should be kept in mind when assessing the latest player to be targeted by the West Yorkshire outfit ahead of next season.

TEAMtalk reports that Leeds United are one of a number of teams eyeing a move to sign Chelsea centre-forward Liam Delap before the end of the summer transfer window.

The outlet claims that the 49ers have opened fresh talks with the Blues over a possible deal for the English marksman, who has been told that he is free to leave Stamford Bridge.

It adds that Everton and Newcastle United are also in the race to sign the former Ipswich Town forward, and that Chelsea want a fee of at least £30m for the former England U21 international.

This may not seem like an attractive deal at face value, because Delap only scored two goals in 41 matches in the 2025/26 campaign, but he could be the second coming of Calvert-Lewin at Elland Road.

Leeds could look past his struggles at Stamford Bridge and see the potential that he has to replicate the form that he showed during his time with Ipswich Town in the top-flight in the 2024/25 season.

The 23-year-old attacker racked up 12 goals in his first season of playing regular minutes in the Premier League, which earned him his £30m move to Chelsea last year.

It, clearly, has not worked out for him with the London giants, hence why they are now wanting to cash in on him, but that does not make the English forward a bad player.

His impressive form for Ipswich, in a team that got relegated from the division, shows that he does not have the potential and quality to be an effective centre-forward for Leeds, if they can do what they did with Calvert-Lewin and help him to get back to his best.

Delap, like the Leeds star, is a mobile and physical number nine who would suit playing in Farke's side as the focal point of the team, as he won 4.2 duels per match and won 43% of his aerial duels in the league for Ipswich.

Calvert-Lewin offered terrific physicality for the Whites, winning 5.3 duels per match and 40% of his aerial duels, and the Chelsea flop could arrive as a similar option up front.

Delap's impressive form for Ipswich and the physical attributes that he can bring to the centre-forward role may be why they have entered talks to sign him, despite his goalscoring woes over the past nine months.