Cesare Casadei, a promising Italian player, returned to Chelsea following a successful six-month stint with Leicester. He is waiting for an opportunity to play at Stamford Bridge. He joined Chelsea from Inter Academy in 2022 for €20 million. Chelsea fans believe he has the potential to be a future star. He performed well at Leicester, netting three goals in 25 games before being called back by Chelsea in January. But he is getting limited chances at Chelsea so far as Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t look too convinced.
Mauricio Pochettino on Cesare Casadei
Chelsea didn’t bring in any new players in January, which was a bit surprising. However, they did recall Cesare Casadei from his loan at Leicester. This decision was a bit strange because he was doing well at Leicester and had found his groove. Now, he’s back but not playing much, just sitting on the bench at Chelsea instead. He has only played once, as a substitute, since he returned.
Before what might be Chelsea’s toughest game of the Premier League season, Mauricio Pochettino spoke to reporters on Friday. The Blues face a tough match against Manchester City, the current champions, at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Pochettino discussed Casadei’s situation extensively during the press conference.
“I think it was a tough decision because he was playing at Leicester and we did not want to cut his development, but with the injuries of Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu, I think we needed. Carney was suffering. We needed another midfielder. If you see the squad, it was only Enzo, Moises and Conor, and not another real midfielder, no? We were talking with him, we explained the situation, we explained that maybe we would use him or not and also his decision to come back. He was happy to come back, it was not just our decision,” Pochettino said.
“If we felt doubt from him to come back, we would find different solutions. He was so kind to Chelsea to come back and help us in any way. And that is why we took the decision together to make him again part of the squad. We played some FA Cup and Carabao Cup in this period but he is not available for that because he already played for Leicester. Of course now he is going to be involved in the Premier League games,” he added.
Pochettino on Casadei's lack of game time: "I think it was a tough decision because he was playing at Leicester and we didn't want to cut his development.
But with the injuries to Lavia and Ugochukwu, it was needed. If you see the squad, it's only Enzo and Moises, and Conor,…
— Vince™ (@Blue_Footy) February 16, 2024
Casadei can still showcase his talent during training sessions, and maybe he views this as a great opportunity to show his manager what he can do.
