Juventus Set Sights on Out-of-Favor Chelsea Midfielder | OneFootball

Serie A giants Juventus have reportedly added Chelsea outcast Cesare Casadei to their list of targets ahead of the winter transfer window. According to Calciomercato, the record-time Italian champions see the 21-year-old as a favorable market opportunity after he tumbled down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.

Casadei swapped his native Italy for West London in 2022, joining Chelsea from Inter for a reported fee of €15 million. However, his career in the Premier League has never taken off. After two loan spells at Reading and Leicester City, he hoped to break into the Blues first-team squad under Enzo Maresca this season.

Unfortunately, his plans have gone south. He has failed to make the matchday squad since September and has yet to register first minutes in England’s top flight. Therefore, Juventus believe they could lure him back to Serie A in a cut-price deal after Douglas Luiz failed to live up to the billing upon his big-money arrival from Aston Villa.

Thiago Motta needs another midfield option now that the Brazilian is out of favor. In addition to Casadei, Juventus are monitoring Genoa’s Morten Frendrup. Recently linked with a move to Milan, the 23-year-old has emerged as a hot property despite the Griffins’ underwhelming league campaign.

But, addressing the shortage of numbers in defense takes priority. Juventus must strengthen their backline after losing Gleison Bremer and Juan Cabal to long-term injuries. And they’ll hardly make a move for Casadei before reinforcing Motta’s defensive line in January.