Wilfred Ndidi’s place at Leicester under threat by Chelsea star

Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi will have a huge fight for a starting place in Leicester City’s midfield after the loan signing of Chelsea youngster Cesare Casadei. 

Casadei joins the Foxes on a one-year loan deal on the back of an impressive U20 World Cup where he was named the best player and Golden Boot winner after leading Italy to second place. 

The Italian midfielder joined Chelsea from Inter as part of the club’s focus on youth and spent the first part of his Chelsea career on loan at Reading in the Championship. 

The 20-year-old is now set to join Leicester City for the 2023/24 season to aid his development and will contest with Ndidi for a place as a first-team regular. 

Despite being known for his prowess as a hard-tackling defensive midfielder, Ndidi has been deployed a bit higher up the pitch under new Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca and even played as an attacking midfielder in the Foxes’ EFL Cup win over Burton, where he scored a goal in the 2-0 victory. 

With Casadei, who is accomplished in the role, coming into the club, Ndidi, who has been playing in a makeshift capacity, could be forced into a role outside the starting 11, especially with former Tottenham midfielder, Harry Winks, already the first-choice in Ndidi’s more familiar defensive midfield role. 

The Super Eagles midfielder could now be forced to find a move to another club for more game time or change his skillset to accommodate a new role at Leicester City.