£12m Chelsea player says he’s training in a new position under Enzo Maresca

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Chelsea’s first-team player has just explained that he’s been training in a new position this season.

We’re only three months into the reign of Enzo Maresca as the Chelsea manager, but it’s quite evident to supporters that he’s already making a big impact on a number of individuals.

The Blues squad is stacked with so many talented and young players to work with. In fact, speaking recently via talkSPORT, Jamie O’Hara suggested Chelsea can challenge for the Premier League title because of their squad depth this year.

• READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano shares how Chelsea players really feel about Enzo Maresca right now

Cesare Casadei training in a new role

Chelsea’s Cesare Casadei is one of the few individuals in the squad who previously worked under Maresca, with the pair both at Leicester City last season.

The 21-year-old youngster was a box-to-box midfielder during his loan spell at Leicester last year, so it was intriguing to see him operating in a deeper role when he made his first appearance of the season last week in the League Cup win over Barrow.

Casadei said via Chelsea’s official YouTube channel this week: “Last season with Enzo, I played more forward and box-to-box in the midfield. This season I am training every day and playing as a holding midfielder, and it’s good for me to learn different positions because it can help in my future career.”

A big test against Gent

We thought Casadei impressed in his new-look role last week against Barrow. With respect, it was a nice fixture for him against League Two opposition to play in the position he’s been training in.

Now, we’d like to see how the Italian copes when Chelsea host Belgian club Gent on Thursday night in the Conference League group stages.

Casadei has the extra responsibility as the defensive midfielder to receive possession from deeper areas and to knit the play together. In terms of the work off the ball, we think he’s got the physicality to excel.

The £12m youngster (The Guardian) knows he’s battling for minutes this season in a very competitive squad, but it feels like he’s got a chance in this new spot to play semi regularly as genuine cover.