Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has already revealed what he'll do when he faces Leicester City
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's move to Chelsea has not gone as he would have hoped for - and as a result an emotional return to the King Power Stadium might not be as likely it seemed just a few months ago.
The Shepshed midfielder reunited with former City boss Enzo Maresca this summer, joining Chelsea for £30m. He will be back at his boyhood club on Saturday, November 23, kick-off 12.30pm, and should he find himself on the scoresheet, he’s said he won’t go wild.
“If I score against them I won't celebrate,” the 25-year-old said in July. “I wish them the best of luck for this season. I wanted to test myself at the next level. This felt like the right time and I wouldn't have left Leicester for a sideways move – it had to be a top move.
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“I always knew Chelsea were admirers. When Enzo left Leicester, we were on fantastic terms. I wished him the best of luck and he did the same to me. I never in my head thought: ‘He's going to take me when he goes to a big club.’ I don't think I can be that arrogant.
“But when it came about, I was very happy because it meant I could work under him again and continue to evolve. It was perfect for me. I'm a completely different player now coming back into the Premier League than when I was playing in it before. I've evolved, as a player and as a person. I've had the experiences of winning, of dominating games, and understanding football on a different level to what I did before.
“If I made those leaps and bounds in the first year (under Maresca) then I feel excited to see what can happen in the years to come. In football, you can't stagnate, you can't stop learning.”
However, things have not gone so smoothly of late and he has made just one of the last six Premier League match-day squads - and was an unused substitute against Liverpool.
He has clocked up just 43 minutes of Premier League action over three appearances this season, with only one of those - a six-minute stint at West Ham - coming since August. While he has been given more opportunities in the Europa Conference League and the EFL Cup - even scoring in a 4-2 victory over Gent - he has frequently been left out of the Premier League squad in recent weeks.
It will be a blow if he is omitted on Saturday, with reports in Spain suggesting Aston Villa may propose a loan deal for Dewsbury-Hall once the January transfer window opens, with an option to buy him outright next summer if all goes well.
Dewsbury-Hall currently ranks behind Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez in Maresca's midfield hierarchy, while ex-City loanee Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukwuemeka are also at the manager's disposal, meaning a goal-scoring return is less rather than more likely.