Chelsea youngster Cesare Casadei has been encouraged to leave the club in January by his Italy Under-21s manager.
Casadei, 21, joined Chelsea in 2022 from Inter Milan for a fee of £16.8 million.
He spent his first season at the club on-loan with Reading, and began his second on-loan with Leicester, who at the time were managed by Enzo Maresca, before being recalled to Stamford Bridge in January 2024.
Since then, however, the Italian midfielder has made just made one start for the Blues, that being against Barrow in the EFL Cup in September.
Earlier this week, Casadei scored for Italy's U-21s in their 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland in European Championship qualifying.
After the draw, which was enough to see Italy qualify for the tournament, the team’s head coach, Carmine Nunziata, sat down for an interview with Rai Radio 1 Sport, during which he suggested Casadei leave Chelsea.
"Last year Cesare had a good first part with Leicester, then he went to Chelsea and played little," Nunziata said. "This year they kept him there, I advised him to see how it goes until January, otherwise it’s right to look around for another solution."
"The important thing is that the boys play," Nunziata, who once played for Inter Milan, added. "If they find a team in Italy, even better."
Casadei committed to Chelsea
While Nunziata believes it is best for Casadei to leave Chelsea, the midfielder himself thinks otherwise.
He turned down the chance to leave the Blues on-loan once more in the summer, instead opting to stay at the Bridge and fight for his place.
In a recent interview with Tuttosport, Casadei reaffirmed his desire to stay in West London.
“I decided to stay at Chelsea in the summer as I spoke to Maresca and he’s been very clear," he said, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. “I didn’t have any doubt, I decided to stay and didn’t consider any loan proposal."
The Italian added: “I’m so proud to be at Chelsea and I’m not planning for January move."
Maresca said earlier this month that Casadei is "going in the right direction."
"Cesare played very good against Barrow and played even better against Gent, I’m very happy with the way he’s playing," said the Chelsea manager, adding: "‘On the ball, he is improving a lot, he played one-touch most of the time so we are very happy."
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