New Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca comments on working with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and what Cesare Casadei’s move to Chelsea says about Italian football.
The former Parma boss won the Treble this season as assistant manager to Guardiola at the Etihad, but left for a new experience on his own at recently-relegated Leicester City.
“It was a wonderful experience, not so much for the final result as the daily work over the whole season that we had together. Guardiola is a coach who really sums up the best of football,” Maresca told Sky Sport Italia.
The spending power of the Premier League sides has blown everyone else out of the water, except perhaps for now the Saudi Pro League teams, who are giving them competition on the market this summer.
“These things are cyclical, the Italian clubs used to buy everyone up, at the moment it’s the English clubs. The important thing is that it is a good deal for both those who buy and those who sell.”
Casadei did not have a single Serie A appearance before he was snapped up by Chelsea for €15m, yet showed what he is capable of at the Under-20 World Cup, where he was named player of the tournament.
“The problem isn’t so much that foreign clubs buy young Italian players, it’s that they are not given a chance to play in Italy,” noted Maresca.
Meanwhile, Sky Sport Italia suggest Leicester are interested in securing Casadei on loan from Chelsea after his experience with Reading.
The 20-year-old came through the youth academies of first Cesena and then Inter, where his talent was spotted by talent scouts, yet not enough to see him progress to the senior Nerazzurri squad.
But look at U-21…….😂