Chelsea ignored scout's €180,000 transfer advice for midfielder who ended up costing £16.8m
Former Chelsea scout Alessandro Pizzoli has revealed his old club could have signed Cesare Casadei for a much lower fee earlier in his career. The Blues ended up paying £16.8million for the youngster from Inter Milan, who spent part of this season at Leicester City on loan.
He was recalled in January, and it was claimed that Chelsea were not happy with the number of minutes the 21-year-old was getting at the King Power Stadium. Casadei made 25 appearances in all competitions for the Foxes this season, scoring three goals in the process as Leicester push for a return to the top-flight.
Having joined the Blues in a £12.6m move from Inter Milan two-years ago, Casadei is yet to make his senior debut for Chelsea but has made 13 appearances for the club's under-21 side. The Blues beat late competition from Nice to secure the signing of Casadei.
And now, speaking at the Palermo Football Conference via Tuttomercatoweb, Pizzoli has revealed that he told Chelsea to recruit Casadei, who would have only cost €180,000 at the time.
He said: “I proposed Casadei when I first arrived at Chelsea. He was playing at Under-17 level and cost €180,000.
«He was not considered good enough and turned down, but then when he cost €20m (£17m), that’s when they bought him. That’s how it works there, they have a different mentality.”
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Speaking earlier this week, Luciano Spalletti, the new Italy coach, explained why Casadei had not been given a call up to the senior Italy side. He said: “We would’ve’ had Riccardo Calafiori here, but the Under-21s are playing two
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