“Likely to leave” – Enzo Maresca confirms possible January departure for £30m Chelsea player
After Chelsea’s victory against Shamrock Rovers, Enzo Maresca has not ruled out Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall leaving in January.
The Blues crushed Shamrock 5-1 at Stamford Bridge to make it six wins from six in the Conference League’s league phase.
Marc Guiu scored a hat-trick in the first half, followed by goals by Dewsbury-Hall for the fourth and Marc Cucurella for the fifth.
Maresca refuses to rule out Dewsbury-Hall sale
Maresca once again shuffled the pack as has been the case this season when it comes to the Conference League, with Noni Madueke and Marc Cucurella the only players to keep their place from the win against Brentford.
Dewsbury-Hall was handed a start in midfield alongside Cesare Casadei and the summer signing put in a good performance on a rare opportunity to impress.
The 26-year-old has found it difficult at Chelsea following his £30m move from Leicester in the summer and his second goal for the club would have done him the world of good.
Dewsbury-Hall has played less than 60 minutes of football in the league this season, which has led to him being linked with a move away.
Speaking after the game Maresca revealed he couldn’t say the midfielder wasn’t for sale but insisted he was happy with the way Dewsbury-Hall was working.
“Unfortunately I cannot say that [he is not for sale],” he told his post match press-conference.
“Not only about Kiernan, but the whole squad. When the window is open, anything can happen. We are very happy with the way Kiernan is working, his performance. This is my thoughts about Kiernan.
“We don’t want one of our players to leave. It is sometimes a question for them because they are not happy and they want to play more. It is a matter of agreement between the club and the player. We are happy with Kiernan.”
It will be interesting to see what happens in January and what players push to leave and how many offers the Blues receive, but it would be strange for a £30m signing to leave six months after joining and I feel the chances of that remain slim at this point.