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.
Although Dewsbury-Hall started only twice in the Premier League in his sole season at Chelsea, he scored four times in the Uefa Conference League and came off the bench to set up Jadon Sancho’s goal in the 4-1 triumph over Real Betis in May’s final.
He was used mainly as a substitute in the Fifa Club World Cup, but scored his fifth goal for the club in a 4-1 victory over Benfica and appeared as a substitute 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 by September for the Champions League.
