‘Turned down’… Scout now claims Chelsea could have signed 21-year-old for just £154k, they paid £17m

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Chelsea could have saved so much money on one of their signings from the 2022 summer transfer window.

It was an extremely busy transfer window for Chelsea, who had just been taken over by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital.

The Blues brought in so many players and for big money, including Raheem Sterling and Marc Cucurella.

The former’s move has really not paid off, with some Chelsea fans even booing him over the weekend after his difficult game against Leicester City.

One lower profile signing from the summer of 2022 was Cesare Casadei, and one scout who used to work for Chelsea has now claimed that he recommended the midfielder to the club years ago, only for them to ignore him.

Chelsea turned down the chance to sign Cesare Casadei for less than £200,000

Speaking at the Palermo Football Conference, which Italian outlet Tuttomercatoweb were present to cover, Alessandro Pizzoli revealed that he told Chelsea to recruit Casadei, who would have only cost €180,000 (£154,000) at the time, during his spell with the Blues.

“I proposed Casadei when I first arrived at Chelsea,” the scout said. “He was playing at Under-17 level and cost €180,000. He was not considered good enough and turned down, but then when he cost €20m (£17m), that’s when they bought him.

“That’s how it works there, they have a different mentality.”

Casadei spent the first half of this season out on loan at Leicester City. He was recalled in January, with it being claimed that Chelsea were not happy with the amount of minutes the 21-year-old was getting at the King Power Stadium.

Could Cesare Casadei start for Chelsea after the international break?

Since returning to Chelsea, Casadei is yet to make a single start under Mauricio Pochettino.

Sunday’s 4-2 win against Leicester in the FA Cup would have been a great opportunity for him, but the Italy U21 international was cup tied after playing in the same competition with the Foxes.

Ultimately, then, unless someone gets injured during this international break, it looks very unlikely that Casadei will be named in Pochettino’s first XI when club football returns.

It makes Chelsea’s decision to recall him quite a strange one now.