Waving flag with Leicester City FC football club logo. Editorial 3D
As Enzo Maresca has played a part in taking Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall out of Leicester City, it’s worth a reminder of what the Italian said the next step needed to be in such a scenario.
Speaking on the final day of the Championship season, the then City boss said: “I don’t care about this (selling players for financial reasons). But if we lose important players, it’s important that we bring in important players.
“It’s not a problem if we need to sell players to solve any problems. But it’s important that we can then bring players in. We need to be competitive. I don’t want to be, this time next year, where we were a year ago. This has to be the main focus.”
First, City need to decide what they’re missing without Dewsbury-Hall in their team. Most obviously, it’s goals and assists. Dewsbury-Hall was one of only three players to hit double figures for both in the Championship last season, along with Adam Armstrong and Gabriel Sara, the 25-year-old central to their attacking play.
It’s not clear how those numbers would have converted to the Premier League. Dewsbury-Hall’s most prolific top-flight campaign saw him register just four goal involvements, but by playing in a more advanced position in Maresca’s side, he made great strides tactically and technically. It would not have been unreasonable to expect him to reach at least 10 combined goals and assists in the coming season.
Dewsbury-Hall provided far more than that, though. His stamina and energy levels were unmatched, and he pressed extremely well. He carried the ball into the final third at speed and built up an excellent combination with Stephy Mavididi, making the left winger more effective. He could whip in dangerous crosses.
There’s a lot of attributes there that need finding in a new signing. Because, right now, City don’t have any players in their ranks that could do what Dewsbury-Hall did.
Dennis Praet and Yunus Akgun, two of the other advanced midfielders used by Maresca last season, have left. Wilfred Ndidi may not return, and even if he does, he may drop back into his more natural defensive role now that City are back in the Premier League.
As things stand, City’s midfielders are Harry Winks, Hamza Choudhury and Boubakary Soumare. They’re either tough-tackling defensive shields or deep-lying metronomes. Collectively, they’ve played 682 games in their careers and scored 11 goals, one fewer than Dewsbury-Hall managed in the Championship last season.
Look deeper into the squad and City do have a more natural replacement for Dewsbury-Hall in Will Alves. But the teenager has not even played a senior league game yet. To expect him to fill Dewsbury-Hall’s boots would be unreasonable, and possibly detrimental to the talented youngster’s career.
