With first-year Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca dealing with a bloated squad, the Italian has had to make an old favorite one of his first casualties.
Maresca won promotion from the Championship with talented English midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall last season with Leicester City. The 25-year-old was named the club’s players player of the season after scoring 12 goals and tallying 14 assists.
Chelsea bought Dewsbury-Hall for £30 million ($40 million) this summer to compete with midfielder Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo for playing time.
However, Dewsbury-Hall has only logged 44 Premier League minutes through the team’s first five games. Maresca was brutally honest when asked why he’s struggled for playing time.
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“He arrived here now and he’s not the main player, now he’s one of the players,” Maresca told reporters ahead of Chelsea’s third-round League Cup fixture against Barrow. “For him, and any player in the world, you need to adapt mentally.
“You go from: ‘Okay, I’m the main player here’ to being one of the players. That period requires a bit of time where you understand that and adapt that.”
Dewsbury-Hall played all 90 minutes against Barrow in a comfortable 5-0 win but failed to impress. The midfielder only registered 49 touches and completed 36 passes.
Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall helped Leicester win the Championship last season (
Getty Images)
He played in deep-lying midfield alongside Cesare Casadei, who recorded 78 touches and completed 54 passes. Even though Dewsbury-Hall is renowned as a box-crasher and a specialist in the final third, he failed to log a goal or assist.
As long as Fernandez and Caicedo are fit, it seems unlikely the 25-year-old will see much playing time in the Premier League. Considering Chelsea sold a younger and more experienced Conor Gallagher this summer, Dewsbury-Hall’s lack of involvement is disappointing.
Maresca promised he’ll continue to get opportunities: “Like him and all the players that are not starting in the Premier League, they are going to start in the Conference League or the Carabao Cup.”
“You need a bit of time to understand that kind of situation where it’s different to the previous one, where you were the main player. It’s just a matter to adapt a little bit. But overall, I don’t have any doubts about Kiernan.”
Chelsea are set to face the winner of Newcastle and AFC Wimbledon in the next round of the League Cup. In the Conference League, the club has a palatable set of fixtures against the likes of Gent, Panathinaikos, Noah, FC Heidenheim, Astana, and Shamrock Rovers.
Considering he started 43 of 53 games last season for Leicester City, the 2024-25 campaign is panning out far differently for Dewsbury-Hall. Will he eventually crack the starting Chelsea XI?
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