Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s departure leaves a gap in Leicester’s midfield - and the narrative
Visitors to the official Leicester City website at half past four on Tuesday afternoon would have been greeted with a big banner image declaring that Wout Faes’s Belgium side had been edged out of Euro 2024 by France.
Scroll down a little and they’d have learned that we lost 2-0 against Blackburn two months ago, and that we currently sit 11th in the Premier League table on zero points - a total that may seem a long way off by the time the Premier League actually starts.
Scroll down even further, past the advert for matchday hospitality, and they might have fallen off their chair.
Okay so maybe it wasn’t a surprise to 99.9% of Leicester fans that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was joining Chelsea. But the positioning of the news and the way it was relayed (undisclosed fee blah blah some brief stats blah blah thanks for your efforts) felt very on-brand for the current edition of Leicester City FC: customer last, minimal effort, protect that brand at all costs.
Here’s the most emotive part of the full statement:
The Club would like to thank Kiernan for his efforts as he departs with the best wishes of everyone at Leicester City.
Pick any departure at random and it was almost identical…
The Club would like to thank Claude for his efforts in leading the team during his 16 months in the role and wish him well in his future career.
Funnily enough, the relatively new official Leicester City app had Dewsbury-Hall’s departure front and centre - perhaps a unique selling point to get with the times and get downloading.
On social media it was a different story, with supporters not just getting emotional but getting their blows in straight away. Inevitably, the link was made between the need to sell Dewsbury-Hall for the very much disclosed elsewhere fee of £30million, the requirement to adhere to Profit and Sustainability Regulations and the catastrophic mismanagement of the football club over the past few years.
Suddenly, the central strand of last season’s narrative - the promising manager with a brave new style, the homegrown talent and future captain leading the fight from midfield - has been ripped up and sold wholesale to a team we were beating in an FA Cup final three years ago.
The Leicester City response on Twitter? Welcome back any time, here’s a picture of you. And on we go.
Compare and contrast with Leeds United’s parting words for Archie Gray, who joined Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the day: “Heartbroken to see one of our own depart…”
Their website went into more depth:
Understanding the attraction of Premier League and European football, the club, with a heavy heart, agreed the transfer, but the move has strengthened the board’s resolve to ultimately return Leeds to a position where it can meet the footballing ambitions of even its brightest stars.
Whilst we understand that supporters will be hugely disappointed to lose such a home-grown talent, and a family name so synonymous with Leeds United, the move improves the club’s chance to compete for automatic promotion next season by increasing our ability to build a competitive squad within the league’s financial control regulations.
Everyone at Leeds United is heartbroken to see one of our own depart and would like to thank Archie for all his efforts and professionalism. He leaves with the very best wishes for his future career and in the knowledge that Leeds will always be his home.
Leicester have taken us down before they get the opportunity to bring us back up with the permanent signing of Abdul Fatawu. A player six years younger than Dewsbury-Hall, a player who will be signed for half of Dewsbury-Hall’s fee and a player with, in my humble opinion, a much higher ceiling.
From a PR perspective, the problem is that Fatawu has, like Dewsbury-Hall, already announced his own move and felt like one of our players anyway.
In a pragmatic, squad-building sense, the midfield looks terrifyingly threadbare. Since last season came to a close, those who have left include the first choice twin eights Dewsbury-Hall and Wilfred Ndidi (subject to contract offer), their first choice replacements Yunus Akgun and Dennis Praet, not to mention the January exit of Cesare Casadei. At present, Boubakary Soumare is quite literally walking back into the midfield.
Of course, there are 7 weeks to sort that out before the curtain-raiser against Tottenham. But this is just a question of numbers and quality. The outpouring of emotion on social media at Dewsbury-Hall’s departure showed something deeper. It exposed the huge challenge that awaits the powers-that-be at Leicester City Football Club. And I say this from a personal standpoint of not being that bothered.
The problem is that he doesn’t just leave a gap in midfield. He leaves a gap in identity. The narrative from the club last season largely centred around Dewsbury-Hall’s one-man mission to restore us to the Premier League.
Points deduction looming, ticket prices rocketing, unpopular new manager appointed, fan favourite departed - the narrative at Leicester City is veering wildly off the course the club thinks it’s set.
Not for the first time, we find ourselves seeing this as a time for action. With Dewsbury-Hall’s exit a painful reminder and result of long-term failings, we also find ourselves questioning whether those in charge have what it takes to make the right decisions.
