Italian football is currently experiencing a golden generation of central midfielders coming through the system.

Last summer’s Euros saw Marco Verratti, Jorginho and Nicolo Barella drive the nation to glory, while Roberto Mancini’s side now have young talents such as Sandro Tonali, Manuel Locatelli and Davide Frattesi to call upon.

And the next one off the productive conveyor belt is Inter Milan’s Cesare Casadei.

Chelsea have agreed an initial £12.6million deal for Inter Milan starlet Cesare Casadei 

Chelsea have agreed an initial £12.6million deal with Simone Inzaghi’s side for the 19-year-old, and offered the Italian youth international a six-year-deal.

With that in mind, Sportsmail takes a look at Casadei and weighs up what he would offer Chelsea in midfield should he be snapped up this summer …

Who is he?

Casadei is just 19 and is yet to make his senior professional debut which raises questions around all the hype.

However, he is viewed as one of the hottest prospects in Italian football and Chelsea have extensively scouted the midfielder all summer, with Thomas Tuchel reportedly ‘bewitched’ by his talents.

The Blues had a £6m bid turned down for Casadei earlier this summer, with the Stamford Bridge outfit now finally meeting Inter’s asking price after the midfielder trained with Inzaghi’s first team throughout pre-season.

He initially began his career at Cervia before excelling in the Cesena youth team which alerted Inter.

They subsequently signed him as a 15-year-old and he has since emerged as one of their most exciting talents.

He has impressed so much at Inter that he was included in the Guardian’s prestigious ‘Next Generation: 60 of the best young talents in world football’ in 2020, while he is considered the jewel of the Nerazzuri’s youth side.

Casadei has been unfortunate that the Black and Blues’ midfield has been so strong and dominant in recent years, as the midfielder is likely to have made his senior debut for most other Serie A clubs by now.

The 19-year-old has instead dominated the Italian Primavera championship for Inter, the country’s youth league, and scored 14 times while adding four assists in 30 league appearances last year.

At youth level for Inter, he has scored 40 goals in just 105 games, including impressive performances in the UEFA Youth League.

Casadei did make the first team bench once last season, but that has been his only senior involvement thus far, although Inter did decide to keep around the first team rather than loan him out over the past two seasons - perhaps testament to how highly they rate him.

What is his playing style like?

Casadei is known as a free-scoring midfielder, as demonstrated by his impressive stats for the youth team and he was crowned Inter’s young player of the year last season.

His physicality is seen as his biggest strength, standing tall at over 6ft and his combative and fearless nature has marked him apart at youth level.

This hasn’t led to any technical deficiencies, with Casadei seen as a multi-faceted midfielder with a strong passing range and ball-carrying abilities.

The midfielder’s goal-scoring touch is another standout talent of his. Casadei’s ability to make late runs into the box has led to comparisons to Frank Lampard, while he has also been labelled a ‘heading machine’ due to the sheer number of headed goals he has netted.

Casadei has also been likened to senior Italian stars Verratti and Barella, although it’s worth noting that his 1.86 metre frame is much taller than the PSG midfielder.

The youngster has shown his adaptability to play in a variety of different roles, with Casadei featuring in a deeper role as part of a three-man midfield, while also as an attacking midfielder and a winger.

However, finding a specific role for the Italian youth international is a potential weakness, with Casadei having featured in a deeper role as a ‘mezzala’ for Italy, while he has been more of a box-to-box midfielder for Inter.

He has also been criticised for his long-range passing repertoire, while the need to improve his defensive work have been noted.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to like about Casadei, with his strong physique and goal-scoring abilities providing a strong base for a successful career.

What has been said?

Casadei is unsurprisingly 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, Casadei’s international exploits while representing the Azzurri have not gone unnoticed.

Italy’s National Youth Team Coordinator Maurizio Viscidi, who has witnessed Casadei in action during his spells representing the national team from Under-16s through to Under-19s, had high praise for the Inter midfielder, again noting his impressive knack of scoring goals.

He recently told Gazzetta dello Sport : ‘He has been with us since he was 15. We’ve watched him grow. He’s a modern midfielder, because out of all the youth team midfielders he’s been the one with the greatest aptitude for attacking runs and goalscoring.

‘He attacks the penalty area better than anyone else we’ve seen, better than Frattesi or Barella.

‘And he’s also strong in the air, something that’s unusual among younger players. Given his ability to enter and give a presence in the area he’s the strongest player currently within the Azzurri’s youth sector.’

Meanwhile, Andrea Zanchetta, Inter’s Under-18 coach, went even further in his praise for Casadei.

‘He has crazy potential, he is a diamond that is still in the rough on which we must work with care and attention,’ he told the LGI 2020 Almanac. 

‘If he finds the dimension of him on a technical and tactical level, he is among the best profiles in Italy and not only in his vintage.'

Who wants him? 

Chelsea have been chasing Casadei all summer, but it has not been an easy pursuit.

Arsenal reportedly showed an interest in the midfielder, while Ligue 1 side Nice also pursued Casadei, but it looks as if Tuchel’s side have won the race with the midfielder reportedly set to undergo a medical at the club on Thursday, according to Sky Sports.

The £12.6m deal includes a further £4m in add-ons, with Inter keen to raise cash to fall into line with Financial Fair Play regulations.

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 Sunday’s 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, while Omari Hutchinson joined from Arsenal and 18-year-old goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina arrived from Chicago Fire.

The Boehly-Clearlake group have reportedly tasked Chelsea academy director Neil Bath with taking the academy to the next level and he has been giving significant financial backing to do so.

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 Chelsea were successful in their pursuit, he may be loaned back to Serie A to continue his development.

Recognised internationally? 

With the fanfare surrounding Casadei, along with the glowing references from those who know the 19-year-old, it does seem the midfielder is destined for senior international honours in the future.

However, at the moment, he is focused on dominating for the Italian youth sides, with Casadei having featured 24 times throughout the Under-16 to Under-19 age groups and scoring six goals.

The midfielder did impress at this summer’s Under-19 Euros, before Italy crashed out at the semi-final stage to England.

In that game, he dominated Arsenal’s talented full-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy, before the right-back was withdrawn after 60 minutes.

Along with Fabio Miretti of Juventus, Casadei was seen as one of the stars of the Italian side at the tournament in Slovakia.

Chelsea’s Harvey Vale, Teddy Sharman-Lowe, Bashir Humphries and new addition Chukwuemeka were in England’s victorious squad, and Casadei could be joining them at Stamford Bridge soon if everything goes to plan for Tuchel’s side in negotiations.