Italy U21 star goes back on statement about “always wanting to play for Chelsea” | OneFootball

Chelsea sold Cesare Casadei in January to Torino, returning the rangy midfielder to his home country after a few years with the Blues where he struggled for first team action.

It came at the end of a month of negotiating, with Lazio seeming to have sealed the deal before Torino got it done. Speaking to the media in Turin, Casadei revealed he had pushed to move back to Italy before:

“This isn’t the first year I’ve tried to come back to Italy. Torino have always shown interest, so I’ve always pushed to come here,” the 22 year old said.

“When I found out there was a possibility this summer, I didn’t hesitate, so I’m very happy. It was the right time to return to Italy. I had been trying to come back for a while, but things didn’t go as I wanted, in a way. I really wanted to return to Italy, and now I’m finally here.”

Midfielder’s head-spinning 180 on leaving Chelsea

Cesare Casadei signs his Torino contract.

That’s quite the turnaround from the midfielder, who back in October was telling the fans why he had decided to stick around at Stamford Bridge and how manager Enzo Maresca had persuaded him to stick around:

“I never had the idea to [leave] permanently. I spoke with the manager, he told me what he thinks, I had no doubt. I always wanted to play for Chelsea, one of the biggest teams in the world. I could not be more proud to play for Chelsea.”

How strange… we wonder which is the truth? Perhaps the offer from Torino in the summer was just a loan. Whatever the case may be, this seems like a sensible setup for all parties now. It perhaps just took 6 months too many to reach it given how little he played this year.