Chelsea have reportedly identified a new midfield target as a replacement for Cesare Casadei.
There’s less than two weeks remaining in the January transfer window, so will Chelsea be active in the time that is left?
Blues midfielder Cesare Casadei, 22, has been heavily linked with an exit from Stamford Bridge this month.
Torino were expected to sign Chelsea’s Casadei earlier this week, but there’s still been no official developments on the potential transfer. Hopefully, he can get a move sorted soon because Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca admitted it’s best if Casadei leaves to go and play regular football elsewhere.
Chelsea working to try sign Reda Belahyane
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Chelsea are ‘pushing hard’ to sign Reda Belahyane from Serie A club Hellas Verona.
It is understood that the Blues are working on a potential deal for the 20-year-old midfielder in recent hours. Apparently, his transfer would be worth around €15m (£12.7m).
The report adds that they have identified Belahyane as the profile to replace Casadei, who’s still waiting for his future to be resolved.
Even though Belahyane is playing for a Hellas Verona side sat 18th in the Italian top division, he’s done enough to earn some significant transfer interest from Chelsea.
Chelsea midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia are currently injured so there’s ongoing problems in the centre of the park. It looks like the club are moving to try bring in a midfield addition before the transfer window shuts.
Reda Belahyane is even better than Moises Caicedo in key statistic
Belahyane, who’s still so young, has emerged as an important player for Hellas Verona during his first 12 months in Italian football. In terms of the 2024/25 season, the defensive midfielder is a vital figure for the relegation-threatened side.
Here is a look at how the central midfielder’s performed in Serie A so far this season:
| Appearances (Starts) | Pass accuracy | Chances created | Dribble success | Tackles won | Tackles won % | Dribbled past | Average rating |
| 20 (15) | 84.8% | 14 | 64.4% | 20 | 66.7% | 4 | 6.65 |
Interestingly, Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo has a tackles won percentage of 60.66% in the Premier League so far this season (FOTMOB), which is actually lower than Belahyane in Serie A.
The Hellas Verona talent is still very much a work in progress as he continues to develop in Italy, but his industry with and without the ball is certainly something to excite Chelsea supporters. On paper, he could be a decent understudy and back-up option for Caicedo in the second half of the season because he can’t play every single game.
