Andrey Santos edges ahead of Cesare Casadei in important ranking | OneFootball

Cesare Casadei started last night’s game against Newcastle, with Conor Gallagher left on the bench.

We’re not sure what that says about Mauricio Pochettino’s preferences just yet, and it may be that the new coach is just keen to try out different combinations. The conclusion from the match and the two that preceded it however, is that Casadei is probably the midfielder in most need of a loan out of the group we have at the moment.

Andrey Santos looks a step ahead of him in development, perhaps unsurprisingly given how little the Italian has played in comparison to the Brazilian. Our total failure to sign a central midfielder so far this summer makes it almost certain that one of the two will stay, and as it stands most Blues fans would have Santos ahead of Casadei – although some would keep both.

Carney Chukwuemeka is another unknown, although the fact he’s already had a season with the first team may help his case in terms of sticking around.

It will be interesting to see what Pochettino’s lineup for the next two friendlies are, and whether we start to see more indications about what the sporting directors have planned.