Chelsea at Risk of Repeating De Bruyne Mistake with Casadei

Chelsea’s strategy of acquiring promising young talent has yielded mixed results in recent years. While the club has climbed to second in the Premier League this season under new manager Enzo Maresca, they risk losing another potential star in Cesare Casadei.

The 21-year-old Italian midfielder joined Chelsea from Inter Milan in 2022 for an initial £12.6 million fee. However, he has struggled to break into the first team, making just 17 appearances totaling 495 minutes. Casadei impressed on loan at Leicester City last season, scoring 3 goals and providing 2 assists in 25 matches across all competitions.

Despite his obvious talent, Casadei may be heading for the exit. Reports from Italy suggest Monza and Lazio are interested in loan deals, while Juventus is also monitoring the situation. This brings back memories of Chelsea’s handling of Kevin De Bruyne years ago.

De Bruyne made only 9 appearances for Chelsea before being sold to Wolfsburg in 2014. He went on to become one of the Premier League’s greatest ever midfielders at Manchester City, winning 6 league titles. The Belgian has 101 goals and 171 assists in 397 appearances for City.

The parallels between De Bruyne and Casadei are striking. Both are creative midfielders who excelled on loan but struggled to establish themselves at Chelsea. The club will be wary of making the same mistake twice by letting another potential superstar slip away.

Manager Enzo Maresca may want to give Casadei more first-team opportunities to avoid repeating the De Bruyne scenario. With top clubs circling, Chelsea must carefully consider their next move to avoid losing another talented prospect who could go on to shine elsewhere.