The appointment of Enzo Maresca as Chelsea boss may well play into Cesare Casadei’s hands going into the 2024/25 season. Following Mauricio Pochettino’s exit from Stamford Bridge two days after guiding the Blues to a sixth-place finish in the Premier League, Monday afternoon finally saw Maresca confirmed as his replacement on a five-year contract, with the club having the option to extend his deal by a further year.
Coming to attention last campaign after steering Leicester City to the Championship title immediately after taking on the hotseat, Casadei is one player who knows all about the Italian. After all, the 21-year-old played his part for the Foxes in the first few months of the 2023/24 season.
Maresca wanted the highly-rated midfielder to feature in his plans at the King Power Stadium as he looked to guide the Foxes back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. After signing on the dotted line last August, Casadei opened up on the pivotal role his fellow countryman played in swapping Chelsea for Leicester.
“I spoke with him a few times on the phone and I felt that he has a big energy and that’s a really good thing. I really love that and obviously he’s Italian so we can build a good relationship between us,” he told Leicester’s official website. “He was a big impact in my decision to be here and I can’t wait to start improving with him and start playing.
“Of course, I saw the last two games in the Championship and I had a really good impression because they played really good football and they enjoyed their football when they had the ball. I’m really excited to play for this team because I like this kind of play and obviously they won both games and that’s what we need to do for the rest of the season, just keep winning game after game.”
In his first press conference since clinching the arrival of Casadei on loan, the head coach revealed that his new signing is “the kind of player who can give us something different” and that “you don’t need to tell him to arrive in the box because he’s always in the box”. It was perhaps no surprise then that the Chelsea loanee was in the right place at the right time to net on his Leicester debut with a stoppage-time winner against Cardiff City.
