Chelsea chiefs clearly disagree with Gianfranco Zola about Cesare Casadei as midfielder exits club

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Chelsea have completed their first permanent sale of the summer transfer window over the weekend as time runs out in the January transfer window.

Cesare Casadei has finally officially left the club, joining Torino for a fee of around £12m, very similar to what they paid for him a few years ago.

Despite it looking certain that the midfielder was going to be on the move this month, a real saga embroiled over where he would end up.

• READ MORE: Chelsea are ‘confident’ of one thing as Cesare Casadei transfer update emerges, it will be ‘significant’

Gianfranco Zola had high hopes for Cesare Casadei at Chelsea before his exit

It was reported Casadei had chosen Lazio as his next club, however Porto were just one of the sides who complicated things by entering the race late.

There was plenty of expectation when the Italian was brought in as one of the first signings under Todd Boehly, kicking off a plethora of young players coming through the door.

Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola was someone else who was a fan of his countryman, having watched him play back in Italy and during his loan spell under Enzo Maresca at Leicester City.

Zola said: “I have high esteem of him. I saw him playing youth level. I saw him in Leicester. I really like it. He really needs to have a chance. The competition is strong in Chelsea, but strong competition makes a strong player. I hope he can make it.”

This is clearly something the decision makers at Stamford Bridge didn’t agree with, as their desire for him to move on this month has been clear to see.

Maresca’s time coaching Casadei at Leicester could well have been an advantage for the player this season, with him having a better understanding than most from the start what the manager would be looking to get out of his squad.

Cesare Casadei’s disappointing time at Chelsea

However, this did not translate into any form of appearances in the Premier League. In fact, he was only even on the bench for four games in that competition.

Casadei was handed four starts in the Conference League, only not featuring in the game where he was suspended following a red card.

Casadei admitted he didn’t enjoy his time under Mauricio Pochettino, and it has to be imagined things under Maresca were not much better.

A move away looked best for all parties, with him now having a far better chance to break into the Italian national team.