Cesare Casadei was signed by Chelsea last summer to add to Todd Boehly's ever-growing roster of promising young talent, alongside the likes of of Gabriel Slonina, Omari Hutchinson and Carney Chukwuemeka The highly-rated Italy youth international penned a six-year deal at Stamford Bridge having been a standout performer for Inter Milan at youth level last season.
The Blues bought the 20-year-old for an initial £12.6million, with an extra £4.2million in potential future add-ons. Described as a complete midfielder with an eye for goal, Casadei trained with the Inter Milan first-team on several occasions last campaign before his move to west London.
Having spent his first six months impressing in the Blues' U21 side, where he scored four times in eight starts, he headed out for his maiden loan in January as Championship side Reading took him on a short-term basis. Speaking of his time in Cobham, Casadei has now revealed who in particular has impressed him in Chelsea training.
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Perhaps surprisingly, he identified fellow midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek as a notable standout performer who has caught his eye. Casadei also revealed his midfield role model is Uruguayan Federico Valverde, who has only missed one game for Real Madrid this season.
As journalist Fabrizio Romano reports, Casadei said: “I feel good at Reading as Paul Ince is helping me a lot. Inter? I’m now focused on following English football since I moved to Chelsea — I want to improve.
“[Ruben] Loftus-Cheek has impressed me in the training sessions. One of my models as midfielder is [Federico] Valverde”.
Since arriving in Berkshire, Royals manager Paul Ince has handed Casadei five starts in England's second tier. In their match against Blackburn earlier this month, the Italian scored his first goal in senior football, having shown supreme goalscoring prowess in youth categories.
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