Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall believes Chelsea are the perfect fit for the midfielder as he arrives at Stamford Bridge in search of silverware.

The 25-year-old joins from Leicester City, where his performances for our new head coach, Enzo Maresca, saw him named in the 2023/24 Championship team of the season.

Under Maresca’s guidance and with Dewsbury-Hall a driving force in the middle of the pitch, the Foxes secured immediate promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

And Dewsbury-Hall said: ‘Last season was a positive year for me and I’m coming into this season feeling like a new player, full of confidence and motivation to get going and I don’t see a better fit than coming to Chelsea and testing myself against some top players and playing with top players.

‘I am in a great space and I am really looking forward to getting going.’

After successful loan spells at Blackpool and then Luton Town earlier in his career, Dewsbury-Hall has been almost always present in Leicester’s starting line-up since December 2021.

He has 179 senior appearances already to his name, including 59 in the Premier League, and also has European experience with Leicester.

But for those who maybe haven’t seen Dewsbury-Hall in action, what kind of player is he?

‘I’m a box-to-box midfielder,’ he replied. ‘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.’

 

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall joins the Blues from Leicester City

 

Dewsbury-Hall’s talent has been clear for some time but last season the Nottingham-born midfielder reached new levels under our new head coach, Maresca, scoring 12 goals and recording 14 assists in 44 Championship outings.

He added: ‘I think scoring more goals has been down to a combination of everything. I spoke 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.’

Maresca arrived at Leicester last June off the back of helping Manchester City win the treble while assistant coach.

 

Kiernan was at our Cobham training base earlier this week

 

In his first season, the 44-year-old guided the Foxes to the Championship title with a haul of 97 points, all while playing his very distinctive style.

Dewsbury-Hall said: ‘I have made it pretty public about what I think of the new head coach. 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 boys 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.’

 

Kiernan can’t wait for pre-season to begin

 

So that is Maresca the coach, but what is his like as a person?

Dewsbury-Hall continued: ‘He is a very unique character. He is very relentless and determined but he also has that nice, gentle side if he wants to talk to you as a human being. It is good that he has a mixture of both because when it is time to work, it is time to work, and he is definitely one of the most hard-working people I have seen in football.

‘He is a great person to have and he is going to be really good here.’

Dewsbury-Hall has enjoyed several personal honours during his career, including being named in the 2021/22 Europa League team of the season, the Championship XI last time out and winning both the Supporters’ and Players’ Player of the Year awards with the Foxes in April.

 

Welcome to Chelsea, Kiernan

 

Now the likeable midfielder is determined to secure even more trophies for the Blues.

Dewsbury-Hall said: ‘My hopes for the season, first and foremost, is to win some silverware. That is an aim for this club and we are in plenty of competitions this season where we can try to do that. So that is priority number one.

‘I want to play as many games as I can and try to help the team as much as possible. That is imperative to me.

‘I want to enjoy the moment and the occasion. There are going to be a lot of games this season and hopefully there will be a lot of ups.’

He continued: ‘Obviously, I know the head coach and the way he wants to play. It suits me as a player.

‘The squad is full of talent and has a lot of potential so I know that if it is nurtured right, then we can be really dangerous.’