Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has already sent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall demand amid transfer talk

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s start to life at Chelsea has probably not gone how he would have hoped. He is now being linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge in the upcoming January transfer window.

The midfielder completed a £30 million move from boyhood club Leicester City in the summer. It was a transfer that saw him reunited with former manager Enzo Maresca.

But despite the manager knowing the player well, Dewsbury-Hall has still struggled for game time. The 26-year-old has made just three substitute appearances in the Premier League and has been left out of the squad entirely for five of the last six league games.

His only starts for the club have come in the Carabao Cup and the UEFA Conference League, but Dewsbury-Hall was named on the bench for the clash vs FC Noah last week, coming on for the second half.

The lack of game time has prompted speculation over his future at the club, less than six months after his arrival. There has been some reports suggesting that Aston Villa are interested in a loan deal , while talk among Leicester fans is of the midfielder potentially returning to the club.

The lack of game time for the midfielder is something that Maresca has spoken about earlier in the season. The Italian has outlined the adaptation that Dewsbury-Hall has to make.

“I’m very happy with Kiernan,” Maresca said back in September just before his first start for the club in the Carabao Cup against League Two side Barrow. “We need to understand that Kiernan was the main player at Leicester.

“He arrived here now and he’s not the main player, now he’s one of the players. For him, and any player in the world, you need to adapt mentally.

“You go from: ‘Okay, I’m the main player here’ to being one of the players. That period requires a bit of time where you understand that and adapt that.”

“Sure, when you play for five, 10, 15 minutes, it’s not easy,” Maresca continued. “It’s not easy for Kiernan or the rest of the players.

“You need a bit of time to understand that kind of situation where it’s different to the previous one, where you were the main player. It’s just a matter to adapt a little bit. But overall, I don’t have any doubts about Kiernan.”

Dewsbury-Hall scored his only goal for the club in the 4-2 win over Gent in the Europa Conference League in October. The goal prompted a celebration from Maresca on the touchline.

After the game the Italian said: “I know Kiernan very well from last year. I completely understand how difficult it is for Kiernan at this moment. I know when you are the main player and then move to a big club it's not easy because you're not the main player, and you’re on the bench or not in the squad.

“Sometimes you struggle a bit at the beginning, but he has to understand the reason he is here is because we want him, so I was very happy for him. The celebration was because I know he needed that.”

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