Today’s Chelsea transfer story du jour is all about Leicester midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
The rumours bubbled up 24 hours ago and haven’t stopped since. Matt Law is always well connected at Chelsea, and yesterday he added to the initial stories about KDH the detail that the Blues were also looking at Leeds midfielder Archie Gray.
Today he’s followed up on that, claiming that the Leicester man is still favourite to be signed, for a fairly obscure reason:
“The fact that 25-year-old Dewsbury-Hall is left-footed is attractive to Chelsea, as their other central midfielders are right-footed and he is a player who fits the system of new head coach Enzo Maresca, who managed him last season… Leeds’ Archie Gray, who is valued at over £30 million, is a more similar profile to players Chelsea already have, making it unlikely the club will follow up on their interest in him during this transfer window.”
That really feeds into the wider problem here: we’ve already got tons of midfield players, and it’s hard to see how Dewsbury-Hall fits in, regardless of what foot he uses.
Modern football summed up
Ok it seems a little obscure to be a main reason, but that’s just what football is like at the very highest levels these days. It’s all about getting an edge and coaching in the most technical and detailed way.
You only have to watch the England team currently playing at the Euros to see why it matters. With Luke Shaw out, there’s a severe lack of left footed players who in the team and it really shows, with almost none of Gareth Southgate’s team’s attacks coming down that side.
Still, despite that, Gray looks a truly special prospect and a potential star, while Dewsbury-Hall looks a decent player but nothing more.
We know who we would rather have, no matter which foot they use.
