Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall is a boyhood Leicester City fan and was the driving force behind the club’s run to the Championship title last season.
However, with Leicester’s financial woes and the player himself feeling the time was right to take the next step in his career, Dewsbury-Hall sealed a £30 million move to join last season’s manager Enzo Maresca at Chelsea.
With 26 goals and assists last season, the midfielder’s absence will be sorely felt, but new manager Steve Cooper now has the difficult task of replacing his influence.
Given Leicester are currently involved in an appeal against a charge from the Premier League from March relating to a historic breach of their spending rules, the club were determined not to fail to comply with the latest PSR deadline on Sunday.
With that in mind, Dewsbury-Hall’s sale was all but inevitable, but losing one of their own has hurt Leicester fans.
Given their financial position, it is unclear how much of the £30 million fee received for Dewsbury-Hall will be reinvested in Cooper’s squad.
Therefore, Leicester would be wise to consider a move for out of contract attacking midfielder Callum O’Hare; the 26-year-old available for free following the end of his Coventry City deal.
They will not be alone if they are to register interest given the player’s talents and his lack of fee, but could tempt the former Aston Villa man by guarantees of being a key man.
O’Hare is a player of a similar ilk to Dewsbury-Hall in the way he appears to glide across the pitch with the ball at his feet and his eye for goal.
With 137 Championship games under his belt, the attacking midfielder is now ready for the step up to the Premier League and he more than showed that last season.
Having suffered an ACL injury on Boxing Day 2022, O’Hare made his long-awaited return in October 2023 and looked determined to make up for lost time.
The Coventry No.10 scored ten and assisted four goals in 36 games in all competitions in a season in which he saw his side only miss out on an FA Cup final due to a penalty shootout defeat to Manchester United in the semi-final.
His manager at Coventry, Mark Robins, was full of praise for O’Hare when speaking on the player at the start of May.
Robins, who at the time maintained a slither of hope O’Hare would sign a new deal, said: “I think the Coventry supporters have been brilliant with every player. There are certain players that they take to their hearts and they remain there.
“Certainly that’s the case with Callum, who has been immense over the last four or five years, and it’s been the personality that he is that’s done that. When they meet him they see that effervescent character, and he’s the same as he is on the pitch.
“He’s just a lovable guy who has just been incredible for the football club.”
If Leicester can tempt O’Hare to make the move to the King Power, they can focus on spending the Dewsbury-Hall money to strengthen the squad elsewhere knowing they have replaced their best player for free.
