Glen Johnson Claims Chelsea Have Just Signed A Player That City And Arsenal Would Have Never Recruited

Ex-Chelsea defender Glen Johnson has questioned his former club’s decision to sign Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

The Blues paid £30m for the 25-year-old, who was brought in from Enzo Maresca’s previous team Leicester but, speaking to Paddy Power, Johnson said his arrival at Stamford Bridge does leave him concerned about the level of player being recruited:

“Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is a tidy player but is he the sort of player that Chelsea should be signing if they want to compete with Manchester City and Arsenal? I’m not sure.”

“They have a big squad and loads of good players already. If they want to get back competing with the best, they need to sign the best and they need to sign the players that Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool want to sign.”

“Would those other teams have been in for Dewsbury-Hall? I don’t think so. That’s no disrespect to him, but if Chelsea have the ambition of getting back into the top four and fighting for titles, they’ve got to have the best players available.”

Dewsbury-Hall knows the system

It’s clear that Maresca had an important role in signing the midfielder. As we have seen with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, it is not always a good idea to recruit those that you have managed before, but coaches like to work with players they can trust.

Dewsbury-Hall won’t need any time to adapt. The midfielder not only knows Maresca’s style of play inside and out, having worked with him for a season already, but he has Premier League experience as well.

Of course, that doesn’t guarantee that he will be a successful signing but it means he should hit the ground running.

Chelsea are not short of options in midfield

It should also be pointed out that Dewsbury-Hill may only be used as a rotation option. He is unlikely to be starting every week with the likes of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in the squad.

However, if Conor Gallagher is sold before the transfer window closes, it appears the Blues have already managed to secure his replacement.

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David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.