Dewsbury-Hall found it difficult to adapt to life at Chelsea despite working with Maresca again.
Having starred in Leicester’s Championship-winning campaign, he was hopeful of playing in the Premier League with his boyhood club. So much so that he rejected a move to Brighton to stay with the Foxes.
However, Chelsea’s move in late June was too big to turn down, especially as Leicester were pushing for the £30m sale – which also involved a swap with teenage midfielder Michael Golding going in the other direction – amid pressure to meet the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability (PSR) requirements.
Dewsbury-Hall adapted well to Maresca’s system at Chelsea, but not to playing a bit-part role as Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez all featured ahead of him in the midfield pecking order.
He started only twice in the Premier League but made an impact, eventually, in their Conference League run, where he scored four times and came off the bench to set up Jadon Sancho’s goal in the 4-1 triumph over Real Betis in May’s final.
Dewsbury-Hall was used mainly as a substitute in the Club World Cup, but scored his fifth goal for the club in a 4-1 victory over Benfica and appeared in the 3-0 final success over Paris St-Germain.
He was a decent performer when given a chance for the Stamford Bridge side, but became part of a trend of players moving quickly in and then out again.
The sale of Dewsbury-Hall is particularly important as Uefa’s recent punishment for financial control violations suggests Chelsea must sell players from their last Conference League squad to ensure a “positive transfer balance” this summer.
If not, they can’t register new signings like Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap for the Champions League by September.
Chelsea are also still looking to strengthen their midfield options for next season, with talks ongoing for RB Leipzig’s Netherlands international Xavi Simons.
