Chelsea are flying high in the Premier League, and they could continue to be ruthless in the transfer window as another star is reportedly up for sale ahead midway through the campaign.
Chelsea working with two squads
One of the key themes of Enzo Maresca’s early Chelsea reign has been his quick and brutal dissection of the Chelsea squad into essentially two separate XIs, one for the Premier League and one for other competitions. This was made clear early on, when Cole Palmer and Wesley Fofana were among those left out of the UEFA Conference League squad for the group stages, and has continued in the early part of the campaign.
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The likes of Marc Guiu, Christopher Nkunku, Enzo Fernández and João Félix are all firm starters for the Conference League ties, which has seen Chelsea win all four games including an 8-0 thrashing of FC Noah in their most recent outing.
However, Guiu has made just one Premier League appearance and has not even been in the Matchday squad since September, while Nkunku has just one start to his name and is largely used as a substitute, coming on for the final two minutes of his side’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in their most recent outing.
Though it is unquestionably proving successful at present, it is still to be seen how Maresca may deal with the latter stages of the competitions, when he may wish to revert to a full strength side in the hunt for silverware, and should they qualify for the Champions League next season, the same formula is unlikely to work on Europe’s biggest stage.
It is also seemingly leading to unrest among some of the “B” team, and now one could be set to exit in January.
Midfielder could leave in January
Now, a report from Spain has claimed that midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall could be set to leave the club in January, after only arriving in west London in the summer.
The former Leicester City man followed Maresca to Stamford Bridge, but has played just 43 minutes in the Premier League to date and has only been in one match-day squad in the last six games, underlying his status at the club.
Kiernan Dewsbury Hall’s Chelsea career (by competition)
Premier League
Other comps
Appearances
3
7
Starts
0
6
Goals
0
1
Assists
0
0
Yellow Cards
0
1
Total minutes
43
539
It is a massive drop from being a key player for the Foxes, with Ademola Lookman singing his praises when the pair played together in 2022: “Dewsbury-Hall is an amazing player. His energy, his tenacity is what we need and he’s very valuable to the squad.”
Maresca was keen to praise him after a strong performance against Gent in Europe too, explaining: “I completely understand how difficult it is for Kiernan at this moment. I know when you are the main player and then move to a big club it’s not easy because you’re not the main player, and you’re on the bench or not in the squad.
“Sometimes you struggle a bit at the beginning, but he has to understand the reason he is here is because we want him, so I was very happy for him. The celebration was because I know he needed that.”
He is still under contract until 2029, having penned a five year deal worth £80k per week mere months ago, but already the club are believed to be considering “loaning or even selling him”.
They have reportedly slapped a £30m price tag on his head, and Aston Villa lead the interest in his services, though Unai Emery’s side are only willing to offer a loan deal with an option to buy which would total a sum just short of £20m. Though likely to be an insufficient sum to tempt the Blues into cashing in, the lack of minutes afforded to Dewsbury-Hall is surely a cause for concern.
