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Luton Town fans are astonished by the summer Chelsea, Leicester City deal: View
Leicester City’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was named Player of the Season unanimously.
His astonishing dominance in England’s second division won him a £30 million move to Chelsea this summer, where he currently plays and scores.
Dewsbury-Hall, who was born in Nottingham, scored his first Chelsea goal against Gent in the Conference League, capping off a modest but impressive debut season at Stamford Bridge.
The midfielder had double-digit goals and assists in the Championship last season as the Foxes cruised to promotion.
While many neutral supporters only became aware of KDH’s talent in the last year or two, fans of one current Championship club fell in love with him before he had even kicked a ball at the King Power.
Hatters were mad for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
Dewsbury-Hall was loaned out to Luton Town in October 2020, only days after signing a four-year contract with the Leicestershire club.
He was a bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming season for the Hatters, who finished 12th in the league. His nine goals trailed only striker James Collins, and with 247 progressive passes (5th highest in the league), he was a transitional force in the middle of the park.
| Progressive play – Championship 2020-21 (FBRef) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Prog. Carries | Prog. Passes | Total |
| Emi Buendía | 98 | 288 | 386 |
| Lewis O’Brien | 163 | 195 | 358 |
| Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 105 | 247 | 352 |
| Matt Grimes | 61 | 281 | 342 |
| Barry Bannan | 60 | 280 | 340 |
It was one of the most successful loan periods in recent memory, with four Hatters’ Diamond Player of the Month awards, the Ian Pearce Memorial Trophy (the most home MOTM trophies), and, eventually, Player of the Season.
Time Well Spent
What set this apart from the normal ‘Premier League to EFL loan term’ was KDH’s clear and outspoken integration with the club and its fans.
In an internal interview following his farewell appearance in May 2021, he only had positive things to say about the Bedfordshire club.
“I have made some absolutely fantastic memories here at Luton,” Dewsbury-Hall stated. “This has by far been the best footballing year of my career so far, I know it has been short but it will be a year I look back on for the rest of my career as my breakthrough season.”
“Today it is disappointing to finish on a loss but I’m so proud of the lads at this football club. For 46 games to be grafting week in, week out, in a really tough year. To finish in the top half of the Championship, I know not many people would have said that at the start of the season and it is a credit to everyone here. I’m so proud to have been a part of that this season and I will cherish that for the rest of my career.”
One month later, head clearly turned, he chatted with the Second Tier Podcast about a possible return.
He said: “I reckon the fans would be happy if I came back, and as I say this season has been fantastic so if it comes to Luton wanting me back I would definitely think about it and take it seriously because I’ve not got a bad word to say about Luton, we’ll have to see what happens.
“I’m not going to say anything because you never know with football but… we’ll see what happens”
Unfortunately for Luton Town supporters, Leicester assured him of Premier League game time, and the rest is history.
Hatters fans will not be surprised that he has earned a move to a famous club like Chelsea, and they may be keeping an eye on how he performs.
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