Pochettino impressed by 20-year-old Chelsea midfielder, will try him out in pre-season

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Mauricio Pochettino is set to take a look at Cesare Casadei during pre-season at Chelsea after the Italian’s stunning Under-20 World Cup campaign.

That is according to the Evening Standard.

So, what is the latest on Cesare Casadei at Chelsea? Let’s take a look…

What’s the story?

Well, the 20-year-old scored seven goals at the Under-20 World Cup as Italy lost 1-0 to Uruguay in the final, winning himself the Golden Boot and also the Player of the Tournament award.

Previously, the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Erling Haaland have won the Under-20 World Cup Golden Boot.

While Casadei will have been disappointed to lose the final, his efforts have not gone unnoticed at Stamford Bridge.

The Evening Standard believe the Italy Under-20 international has caught the eye of Pochettino, and the Argentine is set to have a look at him during pre-season.

Pochettino plans to divide his bloated Chelsea squad up into two groups this summer, to help give himself a clearer idea of who deserves a spot in his 25-man Premier League squad.

As things stand, Chelsea have over 30 first-team players, with 21 others returning from loan spells elsewhere according to the Evening Standard.

Chelsea can save millions by using Casadei

In our view, Chelsea should put trust in Casadei amid a midfield exodus at Stamford Bridge.

The likes of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount all look set to leave, while Denis Zakaria has already returned to Juventus after his loan spell ended.

Replacing this amount of depth will cost Chelsea millions, so it would make sense for Pochettino to put his faith in talents such as Carney Chukwuemeka and Casadei.

The latter cost Chelsea £16m when he arrived from Inter Milan back in August 2022, which is a significant sum for such a young player.

Therefore, Chelsea need to trust the talent they invested in.

If Casadei impresses Pochettino at Cobham this summer, he deserves a first-team place for the 2023/24 campaign.