Chelsea's 2023/24 season came to an end on Sunday as they beat Bournemouth 2-1 at Stamford Bridge to finish sixth in the Premier League table.
The Blues achieved a sixth-placed finish and are now set to host European football next term, having gone through the current campaign without any Champions League, Europa League, or Europa Conference League games.
Mauricio Pochettino will now have a number of decisions to make during the upcoming summer transfer window as he shapes the squad for the new season.
One player who must be ruthlessly ditched from the squad by the Argentine head coach is central midfielder Cesare Casadei, who should be shipped out on loan or sold permanently if a good enough offer comes in.
Cesare Casadei's time with Leicester in numbers
The Italy U21 international spent the first half of the campaign on loan with Leicester City in the Championship but failed to nail down a place as a regular starter in Enzo Maresca's side.
Despite the Foxes' dominance in the second tier, as they went on to win the division, the Chelsea youngster could not showcase much in the way of attacking quality when on the pitch.
Appearances
22
Starts
8
xG
2.95
Goals
2
xA
0.33
Assists
0
As you can see in the table above, Casadei underperformed in front of goal with the quality of chances that were created for him and failed to provide a single assist for his teammates in 22 matches, only eight of which came as a starter.
He also made just 1.2 tackles and interceptions combined per game and lost 51% of his duels, which shows that the youngster did not make up for his lack of attacking quality with strong defensive work.
Why Chelsea should move Cesare Casadei on
Pochettino opted to bring the Italian gem back to Stamford Bridge to be part of his first-team squad for the second half of the campaign but the 6 foot 1 talent did not do enough to suggest that he should be kept around next season.
Casadei, who was once hailed as "powerful" by talent scout Jacek Kulig, went on to play 11 times in the Premier League over the past five months, all of which came as a substitute.
He played 99 minutes of top-flight action for the Blues and produced zero interceptions, zero goals, zero assists, and zero 'big chances' created in that time.
This meant that the 21-year-old midfielder ended the Premier League season with even fewer minutes than Christopher Nkunku (437), despite the French forward having missed a whopping 39 matches through various injury issues.
The former RB Leipzig star battled back through his fitness problems to score three goals in 11 league appearances for the Blues, whilst Casadei did not do enough with his time on the pitch.
His lack of starts and complete lack of impact on the pitch off the bench suggests that Chelsea must now brutally ditch the youngster this summer, whether that is on loan or permanently.
Chelsea star who won 11 duels simply has to become a regular next season
The Blues star put in a fantastic display on the final day vs Bournemouth to give Chelsea a great chance of qualifying for the Europa League.
ByDan EmeryMay 20, 2024
Casadei's lacklustre performances, both in the Championship for Leicester and in the Premier League for the Blues, show that he is unlikely to be a useful player for Pochettino next term, which is why he should be brutally parted ways with ahead of next season.
