Leicester City set to sign Cesare Casadei on loan from Chelsea

Leicester City have agreed a deal to sign Chelsea attacking midfielder Cesare Casadei on a season-long loan, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The 20-year-old has joined the Foxes as they reinforce themselves for the new season.

The youngster had interest from Genoa and Brighton & Hove Albion but has now moved to the second division of English football to continue his development. 

Casadei went on loan to the Championship with Reading in the second half of last season, but his performances were not enough to keep the Royals from relegation to League One.

Casadei had initially struggled to get to grips with Championship football but started to look the part much later. He played 15 matches during his short-term loan and scored once.

However, during the summer, he entered the limelight as he captained the Italy Under-20 to reach the final of the Under-20 World Cup. 

Casadei finished the tournament as the top scorer with seven goals and won the golden ball for the best player.

He returned to Chelsea, where he got his opportunity to impress new manager Mauricio Pochettino. The Ravenna-born midfielder did impress, but he needs one or two loan spells to finetune his talents and continue his development. 

The Blues have chosen to send him to Leicester, where he will be under the guidance of Enzo Maresca.

Leicester have lost playmaker James Maddison and need someone to provide a spark in midfield. They have turned to the young Chelsea midfielder.

The West Londoners signed Casadei last summer from Inter Milan for around £12 million despite never making a senior appearance for the Nerazzurri. 

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Chelsea’s new owners, Todd Boehly and the Clearlake Capital Consortium, have spent enormous sums stacking young talents like Lesley Ugochukwu, Andrey Santos, Kendry Paez, Angelo Gabriel, and Casadei. 

They hope that these young footballers can be nurtured into world-class stars for Chelsea in the future. But they also need to handle them delicately as their development depends on opportunities they get at this level. 

Chelsea have sent Casadei to the Championship, hoping he’ll take the league by storm and begin to deliver on the enormous promise he showed at the Under-20 World Cup. 

He will become Leicester’s sixth summer signing after Harry Winks, Conor Coady, Stephy Mavididi, Mads Hermansen, and Callum Doyle.