Sheffield United will hold multiple regrets over 2016 sale to Everton | OneFootball

Sheffield United had a star on their hands if they’d just have shown a little more faith

Sheffield United will undoubtedly look back on their handling of Dominic Calvert-Lewin with regret, for multiple reasons.

The locally-born striker rose through the Blades' academy system but barely got a look in when it came to senior minutes.

The Yorkshire club allowed him to leave for Premier League side Everton in 2016 for a relatively small price in retrospect.

Seeing what the 27-year-old has gone on to do, it may give the club pause for thought when dealing with their young prospects in the future.

Calvert-Lewin was given few opportunities with the Blades

The now-27-year-old spent almost his entire youth career in United’s academy setup, making his senior debut for the club in the 2014/15 senior after impressing on loan at National League North side Stalybridge Celtic.

Chances were still scarce for the Blades, however, resulting in another loan move, this time to League Two’s Northampton Town, a division below where his then-parent club sat.

In total, Calvert-Lewin would make just 12 appearances for his hometown club, never registering a goal or an assist.

Everton got the better end of the 2016 deal

Despite relatively quiet spells for his parent club, Premier League side Everton clearly felt they’d seen enough to warrant giving the young forward a chance, spending £1.5million to bring him to Goodison Park.

The Blades did reject the initial proposal, so put in some attempt to hold on to him, but ultimately couldn’t resist the sum being offered, even though it was not bank-breaking money.

Now a Premier League regular, with clubs quoted as much as £35million when looking to buy him, it feels as though United may not have utilised him as much as they could.

With top-flight teams sniffing around, the chances of him moving on at some point anyway were high, but if the Blades had shown him a clear path to first-team minutes, and kept him at Bramall Lane rather than shipping him out on loan, then he may have been seen more in a red and white shirt.

It will hurt Blades fans to see how well Calvert-Lewin’s gone on to do

What will hurt Blades fans the most is that he was clearly ready for senior football.

In the 2015/16 season, he made just 10 appearances for United in League One, alongside the Northampton loan. A season later, after impressing in Everton’s youth setup, he earned 11 outings in the Premier League, scoring his first-ever goal in the competition.

Still only 27 years old, the striker is hunting down 100 Premier League goals, having appeared over 250 times for Everton.

If only United had shown the faith that the Toffees were so clearly willing to instill in Calvert-Lewin, they could have had an elite, homegrown striker turning out for them, even if it had only been for a season or two.