KIERNAN DEWSBURY-HALL used to clean N’Golo Kante’s boots as a kid at Leicester and now he wants to follow in his footsteps at Chelsea.
The new Blues signing grew up a huge Foxes fan and made sure Kante’s Adidas boots were sparkling during their title-winning season.
He was rewarded with a healthy tip from the Frenchman too – but only after a nudge from teammates.
Dewsbury-Hall said: “The year Leicester won the League I was his boot boy as a scholar.
“He did tip actually! I don’t think he understood the concept of it before but a few of the lads in the first team told him it was good manners or a good gesture to tip at Christmas.
“He might have gone to the cashpoint that night and brought it in the next day.
“He was quite generous so I thank whoever told him that but I did a good job though…the boots were clean.
“To have any similarity to his journey at Chelsea would be a major success because he is top, top tier.”
Dewsbury-Hall is the latest in a long line of players to have made the move from the King Power to the King’s Road, and he aims to be much closer to Kante’s end of the spectrum than Danny Drinkwater.
His success under new Blues boss Enzo Maresca at Leicester gives everyone confidence that can happen – none more so than the midfielder himself.
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The 25-year-old scored 12 goals and laid on 14 assists for the Foxes last season.
Despite the chaos and negativity which has beset Chelsea in recent years, the Leicester academy graduate was still desperate to make the move once the interest was clear and has already seen Maresca turn one club around.
He added: “That’s just Chelsea as the club but knowing the manager was here was a big catalyst in wanting me to come.
“I knew from Leicester, a club that went down and had a lot of problems, how he managed to galvanise that if everyone manages to buy into the system.
“I genuinely think in a short space of time we can be pushing for minimum top four but more than that because I can see the foundations are set, the squad is at a high level, and if it is nurtured in the right way then it could be good.
“I thought it was a really good, young squad that maybe needed a little bit of guidance and hopefully now that will be there.”
While Dewsbury-Hall knows how good the new boss can be, there will be plenty of Blues fans waiting to be convinced by a manager who has never worked in the Premier League.
But a year ago he had never managed in English football before, and his previous squad were quickly convinced by the ex-Manchester City assistant.
Players minds were blown away by some of his details around positioning and how the smallest change of stance can have a serious impact on a game.
Dewsbury-Hall said: “Within the first week at Leicester, I was convinced this was top, top level.
“I felt a bit stupid, I thought I knew a lot about football but he was teaching me things on a daily basis that I didn’t really know before.
“Within a week we were sold, all the players were sold. I am getting the same feedback here with the lads.”
Chelsea, though, is a different challenge to Leicester.
The pressures are higher than anything Maresca will have experienced before and the chaos under the American owners has only added to that.
But it does not appear to have changed the new boss.
Dewsbury-Hall added: “He has come in exactly like he was at Leicester. Confident. He’s probably a bit more confident here than when he was at Leicester.
“I don’t know if that was because he has had a year under his belt and we did really well at Leicester winning the Championship.
“He just feels really confident and knows exactly what he wants and needs.
“He has something about him where you respect him. From the first day I saw him at Chelsea it was straight back to work, working on the philosophy of what we want to do this year.”
The midfielder is also convinced Maresca will surprise fans.
He added: “Definitely – 100 per cent.
“Look, I don’t want to be banging on saying we’re going to be doing this or that.
“He is unknown for a lot of people but I can go off working with him and say my opinions and I think he is top, top level. Hopefully, we can back that up because that would be the best thing for me and the club.
“I do think he will surprise a lot of people in the way we play and the way we do things so we will see.”
Maresca pushed hard to bring Dewsbury-Hall to Stamford Bridge, a sign of faith he is hoping to repay.
The engaging midfielder had spent 17-years at Leicester and stressed it would have to be a good move to see him leave.
Brighton were a long way down the line in terms of completing a deal, but once Chelsea emerged there was only one choice for Dewsbury-Hall.
He said: “It wouldn’t be fair to say the fine details [regarding Brighton].
“Look, all I can probably say is that as soon as I heard Chelsea were coming in, that was my decision, no matter what was happening.
“It was just a conversation that I had with my agent where he let me know that Chelsea were very interested.
“When you hear that as a player, it’s a good feeling. When I heard that, that was it, that’s all I wanted.”
Dewsbury-Hall already has plenty of Premier League experience, though is hoping for something completely different in West London having only really featured in a struggling Leicester side at this level.
He said: “I’m a completely different player now coming back into the Premier League.
“I’ve evolved, really, as a player and as a person.
“I’ve had the experiences of winning, of dominating games and understanding football on a different level to what I did before.
“If I made those leaps and bounds in the first year then I feel excited to see what can happen in the years to come.”
If he and Maresca can make it work again, then Chelsea fans will be just as excited.
