Enzo Maresca favourite may be wishing he never joined Chelsea as view made crystal clear

Chelsea star Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall would be forgiven for wishing he never agreed to move to Stamford Bridge after being constantly overlooked by Enzo Maresca. The 26-year-old was a favourite of Maresca’s when he helped Leicester win the Championship title last season but has played just 55 minutes of Premier League football since joining the Blues.

Dewsbury-Hall hasn’t featured in the top flight since coming on for the last 11 minutes of Chelsea’s 5-1 thrashing of Southampton at the start of December.

He remained on the bench for the clashes with Tottenham and Brentford last month and then missed out on selection for the encounters with Everton, Fulham and Ipswich due to injury.

Chelsea shelled out £30million to prise Dewsbury-Hall away from the King Power Stadium in July after Maresca had quit the Foxes to take charge in west London.

The talented midfielder bagged 12 goals and 14 assists in 44 Championship appearances last season as Leicester clinched the title ahead of Ipswich by one point.

Dewsbury-Hall was Leicester’s driving force and was expected to kick on at Stamford Bridge under a manager who knew exactly how to get the best out of him. But things have not gone to plan for the Englishman as he has failed to establish himself in the Blues midfield.

The player is behind Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo in the pecking order, with those two players costing the club a combined £221m with add-ons. And Maresca appears to have made it crystal clear that the ace is not in his plans when it comes to the Premier League.

Dewsbury-Hall started five of Chelsea’s six Conference League matches before Christmas after lining up in their two qualifying games for that competition at the start of the season. And he also started their two Carabao Cup fixtures as the Blues were dumped out by Newcastle in the fourth round.

But the star would hardly have been dreaming about making a name for himself in cup competition at the expense of featuring in the team’s biggest league matches when he penned terms with the club.

Dewsbury-Hall could decide to push for a move away from Chelsea this month, with the January transfer window now open.

And Maresca was unable to guarantee the player would still be at Stamford Bridge at the end of the window when he was quizzed about his future before Christmas.

“Unfortunately I cannot say that about Kiernan or about all of the squad because when the window is open, anything can happen,” said the Italian. “The only thing I can say about Kiernan is that we are very happy with the way he is working and his performances.”