Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has Chelsea problem with forgotten man returning for Enzo Maresca era
The 2024 summer transfer window has not even been open for three weeks yet but Chelsea have really taken the initiative. Five signings have already been made by the club, who have made a name for themselves in recent transfer windows with Todd Boehly injecting way over £1billion into new signings.
The spending shows no sign of slowing down this summer either with Chelsea already dishing out just under £100million on new signings. Estevao Willian was the most expensive of those coming in with the Blues spending around £30million on the Brazilian teenager. However, the teenage sensation will remain at Palmeiras until next summer, when he will officially be a Chelsea player.
Marc Guiu has been brought in for a modest £5million from Barcelona, while Omari Kellyman has signed for £19million and Tosin Adarabioyo has arrived on a free transfer. The second most expensive signing is Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Chelsea confirmed the capture of the 25-year-old on Tuesday afternoon.
The Blues agreed a £30million deal with Leicester City for their star midfielder, football.london understands, with the Foxes academy graduate signing a five-year contract (which includes the option of a further 12 months) at Stamford Bridge. The club are looking to build a squad big enough and strong enough to compete in a – what they expect to be – manic season.
Chelsea are likely to be competing in the Europa Conference League, should they win the play-off match in August, and that could add plenty more fixtures to what is already expected to be an extremely busy debut campaign for Enzo Maresca.
Chelsea view Dewsbury-Hall as someone who can really fight for a place in the first-team next season with the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo . Conor Gallagher , of course, could leave Stamford Bridge this summer with less than a year remaining on his contract.
“I’m a box-to-box midfielder,” Dewsbury-Hall explained . “I am somebody who likes to attack, drive at defenders and make things happen with goals and assists. I will also give 100 per cent for the team defensively and I am someone who overall can contribute in every aspect of the game.”
He added: “I think scoring more goals has been down to a combination of everything. I spoke with Enzo Maresca about adding more goals to my game and thought of methods to do it and I have managed to do that. “It was nice to get into double figures. That is something I will try to do again this year because I am an attacking player trying to make a difference in the final third of the pitch.”
Having worked with Maresca last season, Dewsbury-Hall has somewhat of an advantage over his new teammates. The Italian has a very particular style of football that he will want to implement as quickly as possible to his new squad. “I have made it pretty public about what I think of the new head coach,” Dewsbury-Hall continued, when asked about reuniting with Maresca. “He is fantastic. He is top.
“He completely changed the way Leicester wanted to play last season and we saw it worked. I personally fell in love with the way he wanted to play and I know a lot of the other lads did as well. “I am very confident coming here that he is going to implement his style and that the lads are going to buy into it and are going to enjoy it. With more time working with it, it will look more natural and when that happens, it is going to be really good for the football club.”
For some of Maresca’s season with Leicester in the Championship, he operated with a 4-2-3-1 formation – similar to what Mauricio Pochettino was doing with Chelsea at the same time. For a handful of those games, Dewsbury-Hall was used in the No.10 position for the Foxes but it was in a 4-3-3 where he really shone. Used as one of the wide central midfielders in a three-man base, Dewsbury-Hall was allowed to be that box-to-box runner as he mentioned above.
Maresca often chopped and changed between formations while at the King Power Stadium but 4-3-3 seemed to get the best out of Dewsbury- Hall. It will be intriguing to see that in action in the upcoming season. Fernandez and Caicedo, the club’s all-time most expensive signings, are surely guaranteed starters at this point.
Where does Romeo Lavia fit in?
The 20-year-old featured just once during his debut season with the club last time around. Lavia is like nobody else Chelsea have at the club in terms of a deep-lying ball- winning midfield player, whose main job is to try and intercept possession and win it back for his team. Lesley Ugochukwu to an extent, but we are still not sure exactly what type of player the Frenchman is.
Lavia, when he does return from his long-term injury, will surely be fighting for a place in that midfield and it could look a lot more balanced with a proper No.6 protecting the back-four. That leaves Dewsbury-Hall’s position in the team under major threat with Caicedo and Fernandez battling it out for the other No.8 spots either side of Lavia. Either way, it is great depth for Chelsea, who will be competing in European competition next term.
