Not that this was the intention, of course, but West Ham United may have Premier League rivals Chelsea to thank if a decision made at Stamford Bridge in 2025 benefits those at the London Stadium in 2026.
According to reports, West Ham United are scouting Torino dynamo Cesare Casadei ahead of the summer transfer window.
Now, Chelsea have been here before. Deja vu of the most painful kind. Could Casadei emulate Mo Salah or Kevin de Bruyne? The latest former Chelsea fringe player to join a top-flight neighbour and blossom into one of the division’s posterboys?
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Cesare Casadei of Torino celebrates his goal during the Serie A match between ACF Fiorentina and Torino FC at Artemio Franchi on February 07, 2026 in Florence, Italy.
The Blues sold Casadei to Torino in a £12.5 million deal in February 2025. Rather than include a buy-back clause in the towering midfielder’s contract, though, Chelsea instead opted to settle on a 25 per cent sell-on clause.
So while this puts West Ham in the slightly awkward position of potentially being forced to fork over £4 million to their rivals should they meet Casadei’s alleged £16 million price-tag, the good news is that, even if Chelsea realised the error of their ways, they could not simply snatch the former Leicester loanee from under Nuno’s nose.
West Ham United could offer ex-Chelsea kid Cesare Casadei another shot at the Premier League
Casadei could potentially fill Tomas Soucek’s shoes long-term at the London Stadium.
Only Soucek and Kevin Nolan have scored double figures from central midfield in the 21st century. Should he return to the English capital – West Ham were linked via Tuttosport – Casadei would bring with him the skillset to join them in the record books.
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Casadei is not yet at the levels Salah and De Bruyne showcased at Roma and Wolfsburg respectively, but five goals in 12 Serie A appearances since the turn of the year is a hallmark of a young man making serious strides forward.
“In the second-half, he showed that he’s a midfielder who can shift the balance of power, scoring the winning goal,” D’Aversa said after Casadei tapped in from close range during Saturday’s 2-1 win over a doomed Hellas Verona.
“He needs to be more confident in playing like he did in the second-half.”
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Premier League table after 32 gameweeks with West Ham's Crysencio Summerville in background
Credit: Getty Images/Rob Newell – CameraSport
West Ham would have to fork over £4m to Chelsea
Chelsea may be in the market for a midfielder of such box-crashing talents themselves.
Enzo Fernandez, embracing his inner-Frank Lampard with 12 goals across all competitions, remained stuck on the sidelines for the 3-0 thumping by Manchester City after openly flirting with Real Madrid.
Burned by the success of De Bruyne and Salah at Man City and Liverpool, Chelsea could have been tempted to get ahead of the queue for one of the most in-form goalscorers in Italy. Instead, by deciding against a buy-back clause in favour of a sell-on clause, the Blues may instead be watching through their fingers as Casadei drives into the box wearing a claret and blue shirt.
But hey, at least you’ve got that £4 million…
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