It was only right for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to play his part in Chelsea’s Conference League final success. A pivotal cog in Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City team, the midfielder followed the Italian to Stamford Bridge last summer but it has been far from smooth sailing for him.
Game time have been so hard to come by in the Premier League, with the 26-year-old only managing a total of 258 minutes across 13 league appearances, two of which were starts. It has been a different story altogether in the Conference League, though.
Dewsbury-Hall was the Chelsea player who played the most amount of minutes in the competition as he started in 13 of their 15 games. Despite his regular starting spot in Europe, the former Leicester man had to settle for 10 minutes off the bench in Wednesday evening’s 4-1 final triumph against Real Betis.
Three minutes was all he needed to have an impact on proceedings after teeing up Jadon Sancho for Chelsea’s third of the night. Running at the Real Betis defence and managing to slip in his teammate down the left flank, Sancho did the rest after taking a couple of touches before curling the ball into the top corner beyond Adrian.
The assist and subsequent goal certainly meant something to Dewsbury-Hall as he could be seen letting out a big scream in the celebrations. Going on the bit-part role he has played at Chelsea domestically, all connected with the club will have been so pleased to see him make his mark as the Blues lifted yet another European trophy.
He certainly did have a big say on Chelsea’s European campaign after notching four goals and three assists in his 15 appearances. Dewsbury-Hall may not have played anywhere near as many minutes as he would have liked, but he finishes his first season in west London with a Conference League winners’ medal around his neck.
Whether it is his only season in a Chelsea shirt remains up in the air. There will be transfer movement in SW6 this summer and Dewsbury-Hall’s name will be heavily linked with a move away.
Already struggling for minutes right now, Chelsea have the impressive Andrey Santos to add to their first-team numbers next term and you can never rule out the club adding even more depth to that area of the pitch. For Chelsea’s No.22, he has signalled his intent to stay next season and he is “looking forward to seeing what the future holds”.
“Just try and play as many games as possible and help impact the team. There’s a lot more to come from me,” he said when speaking to TNT Sports after the game.
“Look, I’m the sort of player that when I start playing more games you see the best of me. Getting a taste of silverware makes you more hungry. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”
Dewsbury-Hall faces an uphill battle when it comes to featuring week in, week out at Chelsea but he has the belief that he can make it, with an increase in playing time key to that. What comes next will become clear in the weeks ahead as Chelsea try to navigate the Club World Cup and also get their plans in place for the 2025/26 season.
If it is to be his only season at Stamford Bridge, Dewsbury-Hall will depart safe in the knowledge that he played a big part in Chelsea’s journey to their latest European title success. He will be hoping there are still a few more chapters to write in his Chelsea story.
