Enzo Maresca has already told Chelsea what he loves most about Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall

It should come as no surprise that Chelsea have suddenly developed an interest in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, at least since Enzo Maresca succeeded Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.

After all, during their time together at Leicester City, it was the Italian who oversaw a nine-month spell in which the attacking midfielder not only began to fulfill his enormous potential, but took the Championship by storm.

The Foxes won the title, promotion back to the Premier League, and Dewsbury-Hall contributed 26 goals – scoring a dozen himself. As a product of the academy and a self-confessed lover of the club, the 25-year-old has been the poster boy for Maresca’s Leicester City.

And Chelsea’s new boss knows it. Never one to lavish praise on players. Maresca’s comments throughout the 2023/24 campaign do not make for interesting reading.

READ MORE: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall transfer: Brighton £25m, Jakub Moder swap, Chelsea intervention, KDH position

READ MORE: Steve Cooper is moving quickly to fix the forgotten problem disguised as the Leicester City laughingstock

Speaking in November 2023, Maresca said he was beginning to see signs of Dewsbury-Hall’s development. He said: “Kiernan is probably the player that since I’ve started I can tell has improved more than the rest. Now, at this point, he has the composure that this type of player needs.

“In the beginning, he was full of responsibility because he’s from the academy and after relegation, those things. After the first international break he calmed down and now if you watch the game as a fan it’s a pleasure to watch Kiernan and see how calm he is.

“He is fantastic with the ball, he knows when to attack and what to give to the team. He is so dangerous near the box and has the quality to score or assist from anywhere. He always passes, gets assists. Unfortunately for him, his teammates, they miss a lot of goals, but otherwise, 10 or 15 assists.”

Those performances have seen Brighton, who have revived their interest in recent days, look to take him back to the top flight in January.

“Tonight he showed how he cares for his club,” Maresca said. “He has already scored 10 goals, probably for the first time in his life. Something like that, people don’t give proper importance and it’s not a good thing.

“No (I haven’t had to speak to Kiernan), he’s a Leicester player, he played tonight and hopefully he can play the next one. He showed tonight how much he loves the club, how much he loves Leicester.

“Now, if something happens, I don’t know. I don’t want Kiernan to go. Ask the club if we should sell or not.” This question is perhaps more pertinent now than ever.

Finally, at the end of the season, with the title in the bag, Maresca was more relaxed and revealed the human connection between the two. He recounted a conversation from the previous month.

“I was in Thailand in the pre-season and I sat with Kiernan and I said his numbers are really bad, in terms of goals and assists. With us, this season, he would score more goals and assists.

“I said, ‘If you score 10 goals, you’ll buy me dinner.’ And he said, “Okay, but if I give 12, you’ll pay for me.” He ended up scoring 12, so I’ll pay for him.”

Do you think Dewsbury-Hall will stay with the Foxes? Have your say here