Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei appears to be on track to complete a permanent transfer to Lazio before the season transfer Deadline after the player’s agent posted a telling note on social media.
Casadei has struggled with playing time this season, playing mostly in the Conference League and barely making the matchday squad in the Premier League, let alone actually playing.
The lack of opportunities for the young Italian was somewhat surprising given his existing relationship with Enzo Maresca, who he spent on loan at Leicester City last season. On the other hand, that hasn’t helped £30 million new signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall get any significant playing time in the summer.
A proposed £11m move to Lazio is in the works. Representative Francesco Facchinetti took to social media over the weekend to broadcast, without any direct context, that he was traveling to Rome.
BBC Sport’s Nizaar Kinsella has reported that a deal between Chelsea and Lazio is believed to be “close”, with a “substantial sell-on clause” also being discussed. This means that if Casadei gets promoted and Lazio benefits, Chelsea can also continue to benefit from the player.
Casadei turned 22 earlier this month but has never played professionally in his home country. The Ravenna-born talent was brought in by Chelsea from Inter’s academy in August 2022 when he was just 18 years old – a deal initially worth €15 million at the time.
To date, Casadei has made 17 senior appearances for Chelsea and has spent 40 loan spells at Reading and Leicester over the last two seasons.
Lazio is performing well both at home and in Europe so far in the 2024/25 season. Marco Baroni’s team are in fourth place in Serie A and are solid contenders for Champions League qualification, while they are three points clear at the top of the Europa League standings with one matchday to go.