Leicester City are targeting Chelsea youngster Cesare Casadei on a loan deal for the season, with Enzo Maresca keen to recruit the Italian prospect.
Casadei joined Chelsea from Inter Milan last year, and the 20-year-old has been on fire at youth level, scoring seven times in seven games as Italy reached the final of the under-20 World Cup this summer.
Although he has only played senior football 15 times in his career, in a loan spell at Reading last season, his record at youth level for Inter made him one of the biggest prospects at the club, scoring 17 times in 40 games from midfield in his final season there.
The Telegraph have now reported that Maresca is targeting the youngster, who is in high demand from Championship clubs given his talent and his availability for a loan. Chelsea paid around £17m to recruit him last year, and he is seen as a bright prospect for the future.
What will Casadei bring to Leicester?
His goal record at youth level despite being a midfielder bodes well for Maresca in that he could play some part in replacing the output of James Maddison, who joined Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the window.
He has been described as having “crazy potential” by his former youth coach Andrea Zanchetta, and he could bring a mixture of physicality, technical supremacy and output to the Leicester midfield.
A loan deal could suit Leicester, with the Foxes aiming to come straight back up following their shock relegation, and if Casadei can fire them back to the Premier League, a future deal may not be entirely out of the question.
With Tielemans and Maddison both departing, Leicester urgently need reinforcements in the middle of the park, and Casadei could be a low-cost solution, bringing both quality and experience, albeit limited, in the Championship.