Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei hopes his performances at the Under-20 World Cup have earned him a pre-season audition with Mauricio Pochettino.
The 19-year-old starred at the tournament in Argentina and captained Italy to the final, where they lost 1-0 to Uruguay on Sunday night.
Casadei, who joined Chelsea for £16million from Inter Milan last summer, ended the tournament as top scorer with seven goals from midfield and produced some outstanding displays. He follows in the footsteps of Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Sergio Aguero by winning the tournament’s golden boot.
The teenager’s performances have not gone unnoticed at Chelsea and Pochettino will decide whether to include Casadei in his first-team squad for pre-season, with the new boss set to split his squad into two groups.
Casadei, who spent the second half of this season on loan at Reading in the Championship, is currently more likely to go out on loan again but will hope to make an impression when back with his parent club.
Pochettino will have to make some tough calls over who he takes on the pre-season tour to America, with Chelsea finishing the season with over 30 players in their first-team squad, with a further 21 players out on loan.
