Young Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei has been urged to leave the Blues in January to secure game time by Italy under-21 boss Carmine Nunziata.
The young Chelsea star signed for the West London club in August 2022 for just over £12m from Inter Milan despite having made no appearances for the senior team of the Italian side.
Casadei signed a six-year deal at Stamford Bridge, with the now 21-year-old midfielder contracted to the club until 2028.
However, the youngster has found opportunities to break into the Chelsea first team limited, playing just 79 minutes in 11 appearances for the Blues in the Premier League.
The Mirror report that Casadei's Italy under-21 manager Nunziata Reds told Rai Radio 1 Sport that he spoke with Casadei, telling him to see how his situation develops at Chelsea until the winter but that if he is afforded no playing time, then it would be best to look for minutes elsewhere.
Competition in Chelsea's midfield
Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez have nailed down two starting spots in boss Enzo Maresca's double pivot, starting together in five of Chelsea's seven league matches so far this season.
Perhaps this is not surprising given the pair cost north of £200m combined, but Casadei also faces fierce competition from the likes of Romeo Lavia and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
In fact, the Italian may face further competition for a starting spot in the future from many of the Blues' other midfield signings out on loan, such as Lesley Ugochukwu and Andrey Santos.
Casadei has only started twice under Maresca, with one appearance coming against Barrow in the third round of the EFL Cup in late September, and the second against Gent in the league phase of the Conference League in early October.
Considering the importance of game time for the development of young players, and the commitments Chelsea already have with Caicedo and Fernandez, it is difficult to see the former Inter midfielder earning enough minutes to maximise his talent.
Out on loan again?
Casadei has already left the club twice to go out on loan, once to Reading in the Championship in 2022-23 and once to Leicester in 2023-24.
Across both loan spells, the midfielder only started 21 matches in the second tier, though he has played 1,912 more minutes in the Championship than he has in the Premier League.
The Italian spoke in October about his desire to play as much as possible, citing his anger at having his time at the Foxes cut short part way through the 2023-24 season.
He also spoke about the difficulties of competing with the other star midfielders at Stamford Bridge, though the youngster acknowledged that he understood that there was always going to be a high level of competition for starting spots at a club like Chelsea.
Casadei seems determined to become a regular for the Blues, but unless Maresca affords the midfielder with more opportunities in the near future, perhaps the player will heed Nunziata's advice.
