Leicester City would have known, even upon re-entry to the Premier League, that it would still be hard to keep a hold on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall after his electric Championship campaign.
The slick midfielder looks to be edging closer to a move to Chelsea, to reunite with former Foxes boss Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge no less, as Steve Cooper now aims to pick up his troops from off the floor after such a demoralising loss to the squad.
Dewsbury-Hall’s impact last season
The 25-year-old midfielder has been a bright spark for many a campaign now at the King Power, lighting up the Premier League even during Leicester’s dismal relegation campaign, with two goals and two assists registered from 31 contests.
Yet, making the drop-down to the second tier, it was clear that Dewsbury-Hall’s ceiling was far above playing EFL football on a regular basis.
The homegrown Leicester product would amass a staggering 12 goals and 14 assists from 44 league games, as Maresca relied upon the magic of his number 22 at times to steer the Foxes to the top of the Championship tree, particularly when moments were tense and nervy towards the business end of the gruelling 46-game schedule.
Keeping a firm grip on him, even when dropping a league, must have made those with Leicester connections confident that Dewsbury-Hall would stay put with the club ahead of returning to the top flight, especially after the ecstasy of lifting the Premier League title aloft must have also made the 5 foot 10 gem hungry to succeed at the level again with his boyhood employers.
| Top five record Leicester departures | |
|---|---|
| 1. Harry Maguire | £80m |
| 2. Wesley Fofana | £68.1m |
| 3. Riyad Mahrez | £57.5m |
| 4. Ben Chilwell | £42.5m |
| 5. James Maddison | £39.2m |
| Sourced by Transfermarkt | |
Yet, money always ends up talking, but Leicester will be somewhat deflated that they couldn’t drive a larger fee out of the Blues, with a glance at the table above showing that Dewsbury-Hall’s exit won’t make a dent in the top-five record departures that have left Leicester in recent memory.
Steve Cooper and Co could have well have had their hands tied when it came to his deal, however, when looking at the financial difficulties Leicester are still facing, with the 25-year-old just wanting to move on and shine at Stamford Bridge under a familiar Maresca.
The newly promoted side have still added significant money to their bank when you consider that Dewsbury-Hall was one off the Academy production line. Yet, the recent champions of the second tier have been here before and bounced back when it comes to a major sale leaving a gaping hole in an important area.
The deal to sell Harry Maguire for an eye-watering £80m reigns supreme as a staggeringly excellent bit of business when comparing the two.
Indeed, Maguire’s bumper move to Manchester United really hurt those at the King Power Stadium back in 2019, but at least they managed to drain the Red Devils dry of every million they had to make this deal happen, with Dewsbury-Hall departing for far less at a reported £30m.
Selling him on for an arguable low amount will also be a bitter pill to swallow from the perspective of the East Midlands club, with their star number 22 crucial in the Foxes lifting the Championship title last season.
Harry Maguire’s time at Leicester
Nobody would have anticipated that Maguire would go on to leave the King Power for such an excessive amount when he joined for what now looks like an understated £17m from Hull City back in 2017.
Joining the club to give Leicester a new rock-solid figure at the back, away from the ageing duo of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan, Maguire provided just that, with the 31-year-old everpresent in the main team during his debut 17/18 campaign in the league, winning a remarkable 6.9 duels on average per game.
The 6 foot 4 colossus was also a reliable source of goals for the East Midlands outfit across his two seasons at the club, as can be seen with his late winner against Southampton above, with five goals registered from 76 clashes.
Yet, his time playing for the Foxes felt like it went by in a blink of an eye, before he was catapulted to new levels of stardom when moving onto Manchester United, with the Red Devils wanting a slice no matter how much it ended up costing them.
It would end up costing the mega-riches of Man United a staggering £80m to land the now much-maligned defender, who has seen his reputation take a battering at the Theatre of Dreams, like so many other high-profile signings that relocate to the red side of Manchester.
Leicester simply just moved on and took the wads of cash whilst they could, with the Foxes very much coming out as winners in this deal.
Why Leicester were the winners of the Maguire deal
Maguire is now only worth £9m when looking at his transfer valuation today as per Football Transfers, with Leicester laughing at the fact they managed to sell on their former defender for £80m when they did.
The towering 31-year-old was even being touted for a move away from the Theatre of Dreams last summer, with West Ham United the most talked about next destination at the time, as his topsy-turvy couple of years playing for the Red Devils looked to be nearing its finale.
| Harry Maguire’s transfer value over the years | |
|---|---|
| Time of valuation | Transfer value |
| 2024 | £9m |
| 2023 | £11.1m |
| 2022 | £29m |
| 2021 | £50m |
| 2019 | £80m |
| 2018 | £11.5m |
| 2017 | £17m |
| Sourced by Football Transfers | |
Maguire’s sad decline can be charted looking at this transfer value continually dropping, when looking at the table above, with talk surrounding the 31-year-old being “world class”, as he was labelled by football creator Liam Canning once upon time, somewhat of a distant memory now.
It remains to be seen whether Leicester, down the line, will look at the sale of Dewsbury-Hall in a similar light, knowing that they cashed in at the best possible time before the wheels started to fall off.
The 25-year-old could get even better in his new West London location, however, as Leicester aim to keep their heads above water as a minimum back amongst the Premier League elite next season away from talk centring in on Dewsbury-Hall, with Steve Cooper now at the helm.
