“I can’t wait to show everybody what I can do,” Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall said on the day he was unveiled as Chelsea ’s fourth summer signing. The 26-year-old midfielder, costing £30m on a six-year deal, was never going to be first name on the team-sheet at Stamford Bridge.
But the fact he was following the path of Enzo Maresca in swapping Leicester for West London created a widespread belief that the head coach would give plenty of opportunities to a player who was key to winning promotion last season. Now, after 56 minutes and zero league starts in half a campaign, Chelsea are already looking to move Dewsbury-Hall on.
There has been no opportunity to show everyone what he can do - unless you’re taking stock from Conference League run outs against FC Noah, Shamrock Rovers et al. And a perfectly adequate top tier footballer, who will not be short of mid-table clubs taking a close look at how he could help them, has become a case study of why stockpiling players is deeply problematic.
Chelsea are not the sole sinners but they are the most egregious example. Dewsbury-Hall is just another item on a conveyor belt with half a season of a short career lost. Carney Chukwuemeka, 21, looked like a diamond in Aston Villa’s midfield who could be polished into something very special at Chelsea after signing in the summer of 2022.
