New Chelsea signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has described Enzo Maresca as a very “unique character”, and said he fell in love with the way Italian played last season.
Chelsea announced the signing of Dewsbury-Hall on Tuesday, with the 25-year-old completing a £30m move from Leicester and penning a five year contract with the option of a further year.
The midfielder becomes Chelsea’s fifth summer signing after Tosin Adarabioyo, Estevao Willian who will join in 2025, Omari Kellyman and Marc Guiu.
Dewsbury-Hall a big fan of Maresca
Dewsbury-Hall, who has followed Maresca in making the move from the King Power Stadium to Stamford Bridge, shone for the Italian last season.
The Leicester academy graduate scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists, as the Foxes won the Championship title last season and returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
Speaking on his first day as a Blue, Dewsbury-Hall said Maresca is a top manager, and described the 44-year-old as a very “unique character.”
“He is a very unique character, he is very relentless and determined but he also has that nice, gentle side if he wants to talk to you as a human being,” he told Chelsea’s website.
“It is good that he has a mixture of both because when it is time to work, it is time to work, and he is definitely one of the most hard-working people I have seen in football.
“He is a great person to have and he is going to be really good here.
“He completely changed the way Leicester wanted to play last season and we saw it worked. I personally fell in love with the way he wanted to play and I know a lot of the other lads did as well.”
Competition for places in midfield at Chelsea is fierce, and Dewsbury-Hall will be competing with the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, and Conor Gallagher if he stays at the club.
The Blues reportedly view Dewsbury-Hall as a profile of midfielder they don’t have in the squad, due to him being left footed and being a goal threat.
The midfielder will have an opportunity to impress his new team-mates, and show Maresca he deserves to be in the starting line-up when Chelsea head off on their pre-season tour of America at the end of the month.
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