3 potential reasons for Chelsea’s oddest January move yet

Cesare Casadei has been recalled from his loan at Leicester, just as he was getting into his stride. It’s a bizarre move, and the reasoning that he’s going to compete for first team minutes doesn’t add up either. There’s a long queue for minutes in midfield now, and Casadei is joining the back of it. Something doesn’t add up.

So here we are, here are 3 potential reasons for the club to make such a backwards seeming move.

Firstly, some have speculated it could be because they want to send Andrey Santos, also recalled from loan this month, to Leicester instead, feeling that he would be an automatic starter for them.

Secondly, it could be that Romeo Lavia’s re-injury is much worse than expected. If he or Lesley Ugochukwu is going to miss the bulk of the remainder of the season, it would make sense to have another midfielder in the mix.

Thirdly, and most scarily, it could be that Conor Gallagher’s move has taken a step forward – although we don’t see any evidence for that apart from this.

Or maybe there’s no hidden motive, and the club are just managing their assets disastrously? It wouldn’t be a new phenomenon.