Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on Everton's Transfer Chaos

Transfer deadline day is supposed to be fun. Chaos, rumours, late twists. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall used to watch it like everyone else. This time, inside Everton, he lived the full spectrum: excitement, confusion, and finally exasperation – though for very different reasons to a fanbase left staring at the club’s strategy under The Friedkin Group.

By the time the window slammed shut, David Moyes had fewer players than when it opened, one recognised striker, and no specialist cover at either full-back. The headline drama came with Folarin Balogun, the US international striker, walking away from a £40m move just minutes after a deal sheet had gone in. Outside, Evertonians fumed. Inside, the mood, Dewsbury-Hall insists, is very different.

“Really good to be honest,” he says. “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.’” Performances so far back that up.

He has seen the reaction, the online anger, the predictions of doom. It grated.

“I’ve seen all of the reactions, all of the meltdowns, and in all honestly it annoyed me a bit,” he says, not dressing anything up. “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 own worries about what a bruising window might say to his players at the very moment he is trying to drive standards higher. Dewsbury-Hall brushes off the idea that the squad has been damaged by it.

“Not really, no,” he replies. “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.”

From Stamford Bridge to centre stage

Dewsbury-Hall will be central to any success. Since his £28m move from Chelsea last summer, he has grown into one of Everton’s most influential players, his minutes and authority justifying the bold decision to walk away from Stamford Bridge.

“I’m in the prime years of my career,” he says. “I couldn’t afford to spend more years stagnating.”

That conviction has carried into the dressing room. With Séamus Coleman departing in the summer and a vast leadership void opening up, Everton created a new leadership group. Dewsbury-Hall, after only one season at the club, is in it.

“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.”

Protecting the next generation

That sense of responsibility stretches to the younger players. Few felt the turbulence of deadline day more than 19-year-old midfielder Harrison Armstrong, who came close to joining Nottingham Forest until the furious response of Everton supporters away at Bournemouth forced a dramatic rethink 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.”

Armstrong has a mentor now who will tease as well as guide.

“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 [on the opening day] or the Wolves goal last season. We have good banter.”

Behind the jokes sits a clear plan. Dewsbury-Hall knows exactly what he wants from this season.

Europe, cups and England

He is not shy about his targets: European qualification despite the trimmed squad, a serious run in the cups, improvements in every area of his game – and a first England cap. His form has already caught the eye of Thomas Tuchel, who names his next squad on Friday.

“I know I’m the closest I have ever been now,” Dewsbury-Hall 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.”

That line could double as a motto for Everton’s season. Nothing will be handed to them, not with a stripped-back squad and a restless fanbase. Dewsbury-Hall, though, is adamant: they are not here to feel sorry for themselves. They are here to prove people wrong.