Chelsea have agreed a £12.6m deal with Inter Milan for midfielder Cesare Casadei.
The Blues will pay a further £4m in add-ons for the 19-year-old and have offered a six year contract with his medical pending this week.
Casadei, 19, is yet to make his senior professional debut for Inter, but is viewed as one of the hottest prospects in Italian football and Chelsea had a £6m bid turned down for the youngster earlier this summer.
Chelsea have agreed a £12.6million deal with Inter Milan for midfielder Cesare Casadei
Thomas Tuchel’s side have extensively scouted Casadei and had an earlier £6m bid rejected
New Chelsea owner and interim sporting director Todd Boehly continues to back Tuchel in the market
Thomas Tuchel’s side have extensively scouted the midfielder.
It is believed Casadei would initially be brought in as an academy signing, with a view to eventually bedding the Italian youth international into the first team.
It has also been reported that if he joins Chelsea then Casadei could be loaned back to Serie A to continue his development.
The move for Casadei comes as part of the ‘Vision 2030’ strategy that the new owners, led by Todd Boehly, have bought into.
With the Blues’ midfield pairing in the 2-2 draw with Spurs being Jorginho and N’Golo Kante who are 30 and 31 respectively, the club are aware the squad needs freshening up with further youthful talent.
This has already been seen with the signing of Aston Villa’s Carney Chukwuemeka for £20m, after the midfielder excelled for England at the Under-19 Euros.
Carney Chukwuemeka joined Chelsea for £20m as they aim to freshen up their squad with younger talent
Sunday’s midfield pairing of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho are 31 and 30 years old respectively
Casadei is viewed extremely highly at Inter and speaking about their young midfielder earlier in the summer, Inter’s CEO Beppe Marotta said: ‘Today he’s a young talent. He still has a long way to go before he can become a top player, but we’re very proud to have him with us.
‘He’s training with the first team, he’s proving to be at a very good level.
‘Right now I can only talk about him in positive terms as he’s above average for his age, and after that a lot depends on him.
‘It will depend how he’s able to map out his future, because apart from the technical qualities, you also have to have the personal ones which are often more important in football.’
Meanwhile, Chelsea continue to look to bolster their first team squad for Tuchel ahead of the window slamming shut at the end of this month.
After the departures of Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku, a striker is a priority with Barcelona forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang heavily linked with the club, while they are also reportedly close to a deal for the Catalan club’s midfielder Frenkie de Jong.