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Cesare Casadei doesn’t look back at his unsuccessful spell at Chelsea with any negativity. In fact, he can only see the positives.

The 23-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge in a €14.86m deal in 2022 after impressing in Inter’s youth system.

He initially joined Inter Youth in 2019 before going to play for them at U17 and U19 level over the next four years.

The year before his move to Chelsea, he was a key player who had ‘dominated’ the Primavera league that season.

Chelsea move came early

Those performances prompted Chelsea to take him to London, with the Blues believing that hey had secured one of the top talents of the future.

The Blues initially sent the youngster on loan to Reading. But that proved to be the wrong switch as he managed just 15 appearances during his time there.

A second loan to Leicester the following season was the complete opposite as he managed 25 appearances for the Foxes that season, shining under Enzo Maresca as they returned to the Premier League.

But no significant opportunity ever arrived at Chelsea. He would make just 18 appearances for the Blues, totalling 496 minutes. He never managed more than 15 minutes in the Premier League.

Shining back in Italy

A €13m move to Torino followed in 2025, and he’s been shining ever since. The midfielder now appears to be back on track. Indeed, reports have even suggested that Chelsea are watching him again.

It would be easy to imagine that he now looks back on Chelsea with regret, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

“My time in England was important for my career and beyond,” he told Sportmediaset.

“From a footballing perspective, it probably cost me some time because I took a huge step given the experience I had back then.

“Now I’m back in Italy with a different level of maturity. In England, there is more willingness to trust young players compared to Italy, but they are quality players who have proven they are up to the task.”

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