After a difficult season with limited playing time, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is on his way to Everton for £25m.
The 26-year-old had been with Leicester City since 2006 before making a big-money move to Chelsea to join manager Enzo Maresca.
He found it difficult to get into the Chelsea team and supplant the likes of Enzo Fernández, Cole Palmer, and Moises Caicedo.
However, he still shone in his limited playing time, showing that his fantastic 2023/2024 season in the EFL Championship was no fluke.
He will now benefit from regular playing time in a system that will suit him well.
Everton desperately needed an advanced playmaking number eight for David Moyes as the Toffees transitioned to becoming more of a build-up team, and they’ve found it in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
With the opening of the new Hill Dickinson Stadium, Everton have spent heavily this summer to ensure they are miles away from the relegation fight.
Everton’s signing of a player of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s quality for a cheaper price than what he went to Chelsea for last summer was fantastic business.
In this scouting report and player analysis, we will examine some of his strengths and weaknesses and discuss how he can completely transform Everton’s attack.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Stats
It’s a tad unfair to look at Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s numbers last season.
He played only 2.9 full 90s in the Premier League, but he played 11.4 full 90s in the UEFA Conference League against relatively weak competition compared to the Premier League.
To get an accurate data profile on him, we have to go back to his season with Enzo Maresca at Leicester City in the Championship.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Pizza Chart 2023/2024
He was one of the best in the Championship, playing in an advanced midfield role.
He is a ball progression machine who can both carry and pass a ball through an opponent, which is just what Everton needs.
Everton were brilliant under David Moyes’ tactics, and he implemented a fantastic 3-2-5 build-up shape that gave the Toffees a different element than they did under Sean Dyche, when they only played direct.
What ended up happening is that Dwight McNeil and Iliman Ndiaye played more central roles as the number 10s alongside the striker.
James Garner often had to drop into the back three to allow Jake O’Brien to push up a little further, leaving Idrissa Gana Gueye in a single pivot.
Gueye is a fantastic ball progressor, but Everton needs a midfielder who can pick up the ball in the final third and create chances for all of their attackers.
That is exactly what they are getting in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
He was in the top three in the Championship in assists, expected assists, and passes into the penalty area.
He also scored 12 goals for the Foxes and was second behind only Jamie Vardy with 0.60 xG + xA per 90.
Even if you go back another season to when Leicester City got relegated, he was one of their most important players.
Only James Maddison and Youri Tielemans had more progressive passes.
James Maddison was the only one with more shot-creating actions, and just Harvey Barnes had more progressive carries.
Defensively, he’s perfectly capable of defending centrally in a low block because three seasons ago, he was in the top five for Leicester in tackles and interceptions.
In addition, in the Championship, he ranked very high for defensive duel win rate.
He is someone who, though, more than anything, gives Everton an option as a more advanced playmaking number eight when Everton realistically were playing two natural number sixes with Gueye and Garner.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall Chance Creation
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is a true box-to-box midfielder who can not only progress the ball up to the forwards with line-breaking passes but also unlock teams in the final third.
His intelligence and instincts to make the highest value pass in the final third are brilliant.
You can see here that he could play a through ball into the half space for his striker, but two defenders would immediately surround him.
Instead, he plays a pass across to the streaking winger, who can send a dangerous cross into the box.
One of his best skills, though, is his ball carrying.
He had the eighth-most progressive carries in the Championship, and below is a perfect example of how dangerous he is.
Here, he receives the ball in midfield, drives it right through the heart of the opponent’s defence, and makes another cross pass to the winger for a high-value shot.
The Missing Piece For Everton
Everton desperately needed a midfielder who could get the ball into the penalty area.
Last season, Vitaliy Mykolenko and Ashley Young were two of the top three players in terms of passes completed into the penalty area.
Dwight McNeil was second, primarily playing as a number 10, but James Garner and Idrissa Gana Gueye were more of a defensive pairing and did not create much in the final third.
With Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Everton not only have a solid defence but also another attacking element alongside McNeil and Ndiaye to effectively hit teams through the middle of the pitch.
He can also drop deep in build-up and comfortably play in a double pivot.
Youri Tielemans and him had a great midfield partnership, but the combination of the two defensively was a bit of a problem.
With Gueye or Gardner playing next to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, he will have defensive cover and can push forward in attack.
Idrissa Gana Gueye led the Premier League with 181 tackles + interceptions last season.
Even if you have questions about Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s defensive ability, they aren’t relevant because that’s not what he’ll be asked to do.
Potential Issues
One thing that David Moyes is going to have to figure out is the positioning of Kieran Dewsbury-Hall.
He played as a left-sided number eight throughout his career with Leicester City.
You can see from his heat map in the Championship that he lived in the left half space.
Kieran Dewsbury-Hall Heat Map 2023/2024
Sean Dyche primarily played Iliman Ndiaye as a left winger hugging the touchline, but it wasn’t the best position for him because he’s so much better playing as a number 10.
David Moyes moved Ndiaye into the left half space in possession, which in turn allowed Mykolenko to push forward and provide width down the left side.
To get the best out of Dewsbury-Hall and his creative aspect, you need him in an advanced position.
Therefore, he can’t really play the same position as Ndiaye in possession if Moyes wants to use him in his natural left-sided position.
You also can’t move Ndiaye out to hugging the touchline because that’s not his best position and doesn’t allow Mykolenko to push forward.
He played plenty of matches as a right-sided number eight, which may be the position you see him in for Everton.
However, if he plays as a left-sided number eight, I would imagine that David Moyes would want to try to overload out wide, creating a triangle of Mykolenko, Ndiaye, and Dewsbury-Hall.
Only 36% of Everton’s attacks came down the left side last season, one of the Premier League’s lowest rates.
If Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall plays primarily on the left, I imagine Moyes will want the ball down the left side of the pitch.
Conclusion
With Idrissa Gana Gueye now 35 years old, Everton needs to find his replacement.
Kieran Dewsbury-Hall fits into David Moyes’ system so well and now provides Everton with a much more attack-minded number eight.
The combination and positional rotations between him, Dwight McNeil and Iliman Ndiaye are going to make Everton really fun to watch this season.
His ability to progress the ball through carrying and passing is elite.
He was one of the best players in the Championship and has accumulated over 4000 minutes in the Premier League over his career.
Unfortunately, he found himself in a situation at Stamford Bridge through no fault of his own.
He will now get a fresh start with a lot of playing time and will give Everton a fantastic option in their midfield.
