Casadei's nightmare Chelsea debut
Karan Tejwani
- 2 Sept 2022 07:50 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea’s new signing Cesare Casadei had a debut to forget for his club’s under-21s team as he was sent off in a match against Sutton United.
The Blues squared off against the League Two side in the Papa John’s Trophy first round – the competition for sides in League One and League Two, with a few Premier League developmental sides.
Casadei is one of Italian football’s brightest prospects and only signed for the club last month for a £12.6 million fee from Serie A giants Inter, as Thomas Tuchel’s side beat off competition from Inter.
He was given his first outing in the developmental competition with a view of easing him into the first team as the season goes on.
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Casadei was sent off after two bookable offences, with the second yellow card coming in the 85th minute after grabbing the ball, having failed to prevent a counter attack.
He follows Kalidou Koulibaly in becoming Chelsea’s second summer signing to be sent off in their time at the club, after the defender was given his marching orders in the Blues’ loss to Leeds United earlier in the season.
Conor Gallagher, who returned to Chelsea this summer after an impressive loan spell at Crystal Palace and made his debut for the Blues, was also shown a red card against Leicester City last weekend.
Luckily for Casadei, he can make his comeback for Chelsea in any senior fixtures, as his red card and subsequent suspension only applies to matches in the Papa John’s Trophy.
A red card for Cesare Casadei tonight. Following on from the first-team. Consistent. I like it.
— Matt Debono (@MattDebonoAC) August 31, 2022
Chelsea’s U-21s lost the fixture 1-0, and despite Casadei’s sending-off, it seems unlikely that he’ll be playing for the senior team anytime soon as the Blues were busy on deadline day.
Tuchel’s side completed the loan signing of midfielder Denis Zakaria from Juventus, adding more depth to their options with Chelsea having spent the final day of the window looking for new midfielders.
