Chelsea loanee Cesare Casadei opened up about his life in England, the differences between English and Italian football, and why he’s following Inter less now.
The 20-year-old Italian midfielder left the Nerazzurri’s youth system for Chelsea in August of last year in a deal worth around €15m, a sign of his potential.
After spending five months with the Blues, Casadei joined Championship side Reading on a six-month loan deal, where he’s scored one goal across seven appearances.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Casadei first discussed how it feels to return to the Italian national team, being called up for the Under-21 side.
“Coming back to Italy is always nice. It gives you the chance to get away a bit, to speak your own language a bit, which after a while you might miss. I’m always happy to come back and play with the national team.”
He touched on his current level of English.
“Good, I’m improving. I started this summer, practically from scratch. When I got there, it was difficult. But I’ve been taking lessons and I’m continuing, I’m slowly improving.”
The 20-year-old spoke about some of the differences between football in England and Italy.
“It’s still football so you adapt. It’s actually a bit different there. At least where I am, first Chelsea and now Reading, you do a lot of training with the ball. There is a lot of intensity, the training sessions are also a lot of fun.”
Casadei gave his thoughts on Reading coach Paul Ince.
“A good coach. He was a great footballer, he also played in Italy so he’s giving me a big hand. He gave me confidence right from the start, I’m very happy to have him as a coach because I can learn a lot from him.”
He commented on his life in England in general.
“For the first two months my brother came up, because he was better with the language than me and he helped me a lot. Then I settled in and now I’m on my own. Occasionally someone from my family comes to visit me. But mostly I’m on my own.”
The 20-year-old noted how often he watches football.
“I like to watch matches, yes, especially the Champions League, but in general the big matches, so also a lot of the Premier League.”
He was asked if he still followed Inter.
“I’ll tell you the truth, since I moved to England I’m focusing on the Premier League and the Championship, the league where I play. I’m starting to watch more of those.”
Finally, Casadei discussed his inspirations and players he watches a lot.
“I like players with my characteristics, so very physical. At Chelsea I trained with Loftus-Cheek, who made a great impression on me. And besides him, because of the way he plays, I like Valverde of Real Madrid.”