Italy manager Luciano Spalletti has now given his seal of approval for one Chelsea youngster ahead of a career in the international game.
He told La Repubblica that he has had Cesare Casadei in his sights for a while now, and believes he is now ready for a call up.
Casadei has had a mixed time on loan this season at high-flying Championship side Leicester City. He has found starts difficult to come by.
He has had a tough time with local media in patches too, with them sometimes expecting better from the 20-year-old.
Nevertheless, it seems he has continued to make an impression on the national team setup. Spalletti has included him in a list of youngsters they are keeping a keen eye on.
He said: “Kayode, Ranieri, Koleosho, Casadei, who we had in our sights for a while, came out. Bove – the coach then added – is now a certainty, I liked Lucca’s attitude in the last period, and then Prati, Calafiori who is a certainty on the left and centre, and is ready for the national team.”
Casadei ready for Italy
Spalletti was one of the candidates reportedly being considered for the manager’s job at Chelsea last summer, as they looked for a permanent replacement for Graham Potter.
He was coming off the back of a league-winning campaign with Napoli, however it was known he was about to be moving on from the Serie A side.
The Blues ended up instead bringing Mauricio Pochettino to Stamford Bridge, and even though there have been some feelings of unrest amongst the fanbase, it is widely accepted that there has been some improvement on last season.
It remains to be seen though if Casadei has the abilities to break into what is already looking like a very promising future first team.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
