Set to sign
©Imago/Content stadium
Chelsea are edging closer to a deal for Leicester City midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who the London club are expected to sign in the coming days. According to the Athletic, the Stamford Bridge side have edged ahead of Brighton in their pursuit of the 25-year-old talent but have not yet submitted an offer for Dewsbury-Hall. The English talent currently has a market value of €30 million, making him the most valuable player at Leicester and in last season’s Championship and will make the move to West London as Chelsea first big signing of the summer, following the free transfer of Tosin Adarabioyo from Fulham.
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K. Dewsbury-Hall |
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Having spent no less than €466m on new signings last season, few expected Chelsea to have a quiet summer transfer window. However, many were surprised to see the club make a move for Leicester’s playmaker-in-chief. To date, the club have no less than eight senior central midfielders in the first team squad to choose from ahead of the new league campaign. So why are Chelsea so intent on signing Enzo Maresca’s former midfield champion if the club already have ample talent in the middle of the pitch?
What does Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall bring to Chelsea?
Having come through the youth academy at Leicester, Dewsbury-Hall made his first steps as a senior player on loan at Luton Town in the Championship in the 20/21 season, when he bagged three goals and six assists. In the following two campaigns he played bit-part roles in Leicester’s malaise and ultimate relegation from the Premier League, picking up just three goals and four assists in 59 league games. However, it was in the 23/24 campaign and under the guidance of Maresca that the Foxes finally saw Dewsbury-Hall realise his full potential.
Prior to Maresca’s arrival, Dewsbury-Hall had been played as a box-to-box midfielder, tasked with being an all-rounder. But in the 23/24 season the midfielder was given more freedom to get into the final third and dictate games. This had a remarkable effect, which saw the 25-year-old talent bag an incredible 12 goals and 14 assists over the course of the season – which was more goals and assists than all but four players and just one midfielder in Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics. And that’s most likely why Chelsea now seem so keen on signing the Leicester star.
For all of Chelsea’s depth in midfield, the London club undoubtedly lack a genuine playmaker who can pull the strings in the middle of the park. As we can see in the table above, just two Chelsea midfielders featured in the top 20 for midfielders that created the most assists in the Premier League last season. And when we consider that Cole Palmer is perhaps more of an inside forward or right winger, it underlines exactly why Maresca is crying out for a central midfielder that can set up goals. Especially, if Connor Gallagher does indeed get sold before the end of the summer window. In a sense, Dewsbury-Hall could be slotted straight into Chelsea’s starting XI as a like-for-like replacement for the England international, who would ideally offer far more of an attacking threat in the final third.
The only question that remains is whether Dewsbury-Hall is ready to make the step up to the Premier League. Having already spent two seasons in the English top-flight without a huge amount of success in front of goal, Chelsea fans will be hoping that the central midfielder has now come of age and is ready to step up at a bigger club with far stronger expectations. But some may fear that Maresca has simply been afforded the chance to sign one of his favoured players from his previous club, regardless of whether or not he’s good enough to start for Chelsea next season.