Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casedei is ready to leave the club in the January transfer window. The Blues are in talks with Monza over a proposed loan deal for the Italian, it has been claimed.
The 21-year-old, who incidentally spent part of last season on loan with Enzo Maresca at Leicester City, has yet to feature for Chelsea in the Premier League this season. He has, however, made four appearances in the Conference League and featured in the 5-0 win over Barrow in the Carabao Cup.
Casedei has been unable to force his way into Chelsea's Premier League plans, with Maresca regularly favouring Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia in midfield. Even Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Renato Veiga are also ahead of the former Inter Milan star in the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
And now, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea and Monza are "advancing" their negotiations over a six-month loan deal for Casedei. The report adds that Monza are hoping to have Casedei registered as soon as the window opens on January 2 - so that he can play against Cagliari three days later.
Casedei would have been likely to start Chelsea's Conference League trip to Astana on Thursday afternoon, but he is suspended after his red card against Heidenheim last time out. It means that he might not play another minute of first-team football before his departure is confirmed when January rolls around.
Having struggled for regular game time, Casedei has already been urged to depart Chelsea by Italy Under-21s head coach Carmine Nunziata. "Last year Cesare had a good first part with Leicester, then he went to Chelsea and played little," Nunziata told Rai Radio 1 Sport in October.
"This year they kept him there, I advised him to see how it goes until January, otherwise it's right to look around for another solution. The important thing is that the boys play.
"If they find a team in Italy, then even better. But the experience abroad is also formative. For example, after playing in Switzerland, I found [Mattia] Zanotti to have improved a lot and grown a lot."
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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