David Moyes has been delighted by the impact made by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall following his £25m summer move from Premier League rivals Chelsea
Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall during the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United. Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall during the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United. Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
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David Moyes says he believes Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s start to the season has gone under the radar as he weighs up the summer signing’s best position for Everton. The 27-year-old has been a central figure in Moyes’ new-look Blues, typically playing in a central attacking midfield role.
That decision followed talks with the player before he moved from Chelsea after helping Enzo Maresca’s side to Club World Cup glory in July.
Moyes revealed that in those discussions Dewsbury-Hall said he thought 10 goals was a reasonable target for him with the right support - a claim that set Everton manager's pulse racing as he sought ways to improve his goal-shy team.
The midfielder already has the first of that target, his rifled half-volley smashing off the underside of the bar in the 3-2 win at Wolves that is the highpoint of the season to date.
Dewsbury-Hall combined with Jack Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye to wreak havoc on the edge of the Wolves box at Molineux in that Premier League win and his effort was a stunning reward for the new-found attacking prowess that was so visible in that match.
Beyond that, he has knitted play together well, with his technical ability symbolic of the progress made over the summer.
On Dewsbury-Hall's impact so far, Moyes said: “He’s given us more quality in the final third, whether it be his passing or his play or his combination play. Kiernan has been really good.
“Jack has been getting loads of press but I think Kiernan has probably been as good as anybody in what he’s done for the team.”
There remains frustration, even now, that Dewsbury-Hall missed the comeback win over Crystal Palace through suspension after collecting five bookings in the opening six matches of the season.
The final two - for taking a quick free-kick at Anfield and for a challenge in which he won the ball from West Ham United’s Kyle Walker-Peters - caused a backlash from Moyes and his team-mates.
His manager is pleased with his tenacity but it is the additional quality at the top of the pitch that drew him to sanctioning a £25m move for a player former Blues boss Sean Dyche had coveted in less auspicious times.
Moyes said: “When I was signing him we were talking about his role and how he played - I was asking him mainly how he played – and he thought he was good to get 10 goals a year. I’m saying: ‘That’ll do me right away because what we are trying to do is add more goals’.
“We couldn’t score enough goals in the last couple of seasons. We’ve talked about the defensive side being pretty good so how could we find a way of getting more goals in the team?
“Can he do that or help us? He’s started off well. We were hugely disappointed to miss him in the Palace game but we were pretty fortunate to get a result without him.”
Everton remain a work-in-progress. After years of underinvestment in the squad before December’s takeover by The Friedkin Group, there was an insistence that not every issue could be solved in one summer.
The transition from being a team that willingly conceded possession and sat deep to one that is seeking to dictate play and build pressure in the final third has not been without teething issues and there is recognition the change from Abdoulaye Doucoure, who operated as the link between midfield and attack across the past two-and-a-half seasons, to Dewsbury-Hall is symbolic of that.
David Moyes celebrates with matchwinner Abdoulaye Doucoure and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after the match between Nottingham Forest and Everton at the City Ground on April 12, 2025
David Moyes celebrates with matchwinner Abdoulaye Doucoure and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after the match between Nottingham Forest and Everton at the City Ground on April 12, 2025
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Everton have swapped Doucoure’s power and relentlessness for Dewsbury-Hall’s intelligence and finesse.
That was a proactive move by Moyes who, discussing Dewsbury-Hall’s best position ahead of the trip to Manchester City last week, said: “He’s played a few roles. I think probably playing higher up closer to the forward [is his best position]. No.10 but maybe just not an absolute out-and-out 10.
“It could be playing in one of the pockets, one of the sides, he could also play as a third midfield player if you played 4-3-3. It was a different type of player to what we had with Doucoure, for example, who might have played right at the top of the pitch, nearly on the verge of being a second number nine sometimes.
“This has changed a bit now but his ability to make us play a lot better has been a big thing.”