Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's Ambitions at Everton Amid Transfer Chaos
Transfer deadline day is supposed to be fun. Chaos, rumours, last‑minute rescues. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall felt all of that at Everton – and then something closer to anger.
Excitement gave way to disbelief as the window shut with David Moyes holding a thinner squad than he started with, just one recognised striker and no specialist cover at either full-back. The saga peaked when Folarin Balogun walked away from a £40m move in the final moments, abandoning a deal sheet that had already gone in. Supporters were left staring at the squad list and at The Friedkin Group, wondering what exactly the plan was.
Inside the dressing room, the mood is very different.
“Really good to be honest,” Dewsbury-Hall says. He doesn’t hesitate. “Definitely not the same mood as what I’ve seen on the outside. There’s a good mentality this year of: ‘We’ll show everyone.’” The evidence on the pitch so far backs him up.
What has irked him is the noise around the club.
“I’ve seen all of the reactions, all of the meltdowns, and in all honestly it annoyed me a bit,” he says, choosing his words but not softening them. “I get where people are coming from; everyone wants to sign everyone and have the perfect squad. But there are still 19 lads in this building who are going to hopefully take this club to good things this year. That was getting disregarded.
“I saw people saying: ‘We’ll be lucky to stay up this year.’ What message is that sending to the lads who are already here? I’m not blaming anyone. We get it. It didn’t work. But let’s all be positive – right, it’s done, bang, let’s go – and that’s what we’ve been trying to say in the dressing room. Of course we would have wanted to sign a couple more, but we’re happy with what we’ve got and it’s given us more impetus now to move on.”
Moyes has already voiced his unease about the optics of that window: players out, targets missed, the sense of a club trying to move forward with the handbrake on. Dewsbury-Hall, though, refuses to indulge any narrative of a wounded squad.
“Not really, no,” he says when asked if the business has damaged morale. “I know we’ve got a smaller squad but we’ve got some really good players. Our starting XI is top, a European starting XI.
“I get it, you need a whole squad, but we’ve got 17, 18 players at a really, really good level. I don’t think a couple of years ago it was at that level. Actually I know it wasn’t. Things can be out of your hands in football and that’s what happened for us. But we quickly realised: ‘Hang on a minute, look around the dressing room – top player, top player, top player.’ If we’re doing the right things we can still be successful.”
He will be central to that ambition. Since his £28m move from Chelsea last summer, Dewsbury-Hall has grown into one of Everton’s most influential players, his minutes and authority rising together. Leaving Stamford Bridge was a gamble; staying, he felt, would have been worse.
“I’m in the prime years of my career,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to spend more years stagnating.”
His impact now stretches beyond match days. With Séamus Coleman gone, Everton have restructured their leadership. Dewsbury-Hall was voted into a new core group designed to replace the vacuum left by the long-serving captain.
“Because Séamus has left such a big hole we need a group of experienced lads to crack on together and keep the standards high and to drive things,” he explains. “It’s just the more experienced lads – [Jordan] Pickford, Tarky [James Tarkowski, the new club captain], Jimmy [James] Garner, myself. The ones that have been playing in the Premier League for years or feel like they are settled at the club.
“It’s nice [to be voted in after just one season] but it’s definitely an impact I wanted to have. I’m really pleased that the lads look at me as someone that can be important for the dressing room.”
That responsibility shows in how he has taken Harrison Armstrong under his wing. The 19-year-old midfielder was on the brink of joining Nottingham Forest before deadline day, only for Everton supporters at Bournemouth to erupt in fury at the prospect. The backlash forced a dramatic U-turn from the owners.
“They definitely made their feelings known and obviously it worked,” Dewsbury-Hall says. “Big credit to them for that, they were amazing that day. And I know for a fact it made Harrison feel very good and it helped him. He is a very confident lad and well respected in the dressing room for such a young age.
“If there is anything I can help him with then I will. Shooting’s definitely one because his shooting is sometimes not the best, and I’ve told him that many times. But he’s got pretty much everything else. He always likes to say he’s got a better strike than me so I just tell him to look at the [Crystal] Palace goal [that Dewsbury-Hall scored on the opening day] or the Wolves goal last season. We have good banter.”
The jokes do not disguise how sharp his own targets are. Dewsbury-Hall wants European football with Everton this season, a serious run in the cups, clear growth in his all-round game and, finally, an England cap. His form has already caught the attention of Thomas Tuchel, who names his next squad on Friday.
“I know I’m the closest I have ever been now,” he says. “You get a message two weeks before the squad is announced. I got one for the long list for the World Cup and I’ve had one for these next games. It’s nice. It means you are doing OK. It’s a long, long message. It tells you that it’s a legal requirement for us [the Football Association] to tell you in advance that you are in contention and to be available for these dates. It’s a good feeling because you think: ‘OK, I am close,’ but you know you have to keep pushing it to the last minute. It’s up to me. It’s got to be me that forces his hand to choose me. It’s not going to be given to me.”
Nothing, he knows, will be handed to Everton either. Not with a trimmed squad, a restless fanbase and a season that could tilt either way. Dewsbury-Hall is clear on one thing, though: they are not waiting for sympathy. They are going to have to fight their way to where they think they belong.
