How Enzo Maresca really felt about Chelsea’s signing of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall last summer

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When Chelsea signed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester City last summer, Enzo Maresca was getting a player whom he knew very well.

Enzo Maresca and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall worked with each other at Leicester City during the 2023/24 season and enjoyed success there.

Leicester, of course, won promotion back to the Premier League, with Dewsbury-Hall being a key player for Maresca. In total, he made 44 Championship appearances.

However, Dewsbury-Hall is now being linked with a move to West Ham as his future at Chelsea comes into serious doubt.

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Enzo Maresca never wanted Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

Despite relying heavily on him at Leicester, it has become quite apparent that Maresca has no use for Dewsbury-Hall at Chelsea.

In fact, journalist Simon Phillips has claimed on his Substack Si Phillips Talks Chelsea that the Chelsea manager felt that the midfielder was never needed.

Rather, it was the club who decided to buy him, a decision that they may now be regretting. Simply put, Dewsbury-Hall has been a waste of money.

He cost £30m but has only played five times in the Premier League this season. His role in the squad could have easily been given to Carney Chukwuemeka or Cesare Casadei.

The two young midfielders have not played in the top flight at all and like Dewsbury-Hall, there is now talk of West Ham also being interested in Chukwuemeka.

Brendan Rodgers thinks Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is ‘outstanding’

One of Dewsbury-Hall’s former managers at Leicester was Brendan Rodgers, who will be disappointed to see his ex-player struggling so much at Chelsea.

The Celtic boss thought very highly of the Englishman, describing one of his performances under him as “outstanding”.

Speaking about Dewsbury-Hall after one match back in the 2021/22 season, Rodgers told BBC Sport and other outlets: “I thought Kiernan was outstanding. He wanted to prove a point, he was aggressive and he took on the burden of the game.

“He knows the position that we want him to play. He has good energy and good athleticism. I’ve said about him improving on the ball, but he can give us that bite in midfield and he was a catalyst for the second half.”

Supporters at Stamford Bridge have not got to see that yet, and they are unlikely to. After being overlooked by Maresca in the current campaign, it would be a real surprise if Dewsbury-Hall was still at Chelsea after the January transfer window.