Atalanta have completed a deal to sign defender Davide Zappacosta from Chelsea in a permanent deal understood to be worth €10 million.
Zappacosta, who spent last season on loan at Genoa, has agreed a contract that will run until June 2025 with Atalanta.
The 29-year-old featured several times for Chelsea in pre-season but Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James are Thomas Tuchel's preferred choices and so he has been allowed to move on.
Zappacosta posted on Twitter: “Goodbye #ChelseaFC what an amazing journey! One FA Cup, one UEFA Cup, wearing this colours gives you a special emotion!
“Thank you for everything and best of luck for the future. Zap”
Zappacosta made 25 appearances for Genoa last season, having recovered from a knee injury which he sustained while on loan with Roma during the 2019-20 campaign.
The right-back will be returning to familiar territory in northern Italy, having first joined Atalanta in January 2011. He made his breakthrough in Serie A with them during the 2014-15 season, before moving to Torino.
Following an impressive spell in Turin, Antonio Conte then brought him to Chelsea in 2017.
Zappacosta scored on his full debut and finished his first Premier League campaign with 35 appearances and an FA Cup winner’s medal after a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Wembley.
In the 2019 UEFA Europa League final, he replaced Eden Hazard late on in Chelsea's 4–1 victory over Arsenal.
He becomes the fourth player that Chelsea have sold to a Serie A club in this summer's transfer window, following the departures of Fikayo Tomori, Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham.
GO DEEPER
How Abraham stole the show on debut for Mourinho's new Roma
How will he be remembered at Chelsea?
Zappacosta will primarily be remembered at Stamford Bridge for being part of the club's disastrous spending spree in the summer of 2017 that also brought Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Danny Drinkwater to Stamford Bridge.
Bought on transfer deadline day in a vain attempt to appease head coach Antonio Conte, Zappacosta's stint as a first-team player consisted of two seasons spent as a squad option.
His high point in a Chelsea shirt came on his Champions League debut in September 2017 when he scored a mis-hit cross in a 6-0 rout of Qarabag. His final appearance was also notable, replacing Eden Hazard in the final minutes of the 2019 Europa League final victory over Arsenal in Baku.
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What does this mean for Chelsea's transfer business?
Zappacosta's permanent departure and in particular the fee – €10 million, a notable decrease on the €28 million paid for him four years ago – is a sign that director Marina Granovskaia is open to considering lower offers for the club's less saleable assets.
Every little helps in a transfer market as depressed as this one, however, and Chelsea are now approaching the £100 million mark for funds raised from player sales.
That money helps to offset the £97.5 million paid to bring back Romelu Lukaku, while another £25 million for Kurt Zouma from West Ham would partially offset the cost of activating the £68 million buyout clause in Sevilla defender Jules Kounde's contract.
Chelsea have tried to balance signings with sales for the last decade, and Zappacosta's departure is a continuation of that policy.
Is there anything else I need to know?
Absolutely. Tammy Abraham is another Chelsea player who has moved to Serie A and had a debut to remember for Roma in their 3-1 win over Fiorentina.
He did not disappoint on Sunday and every newspaper in Rome made the 23-year-old man of the match.
To find out how he helped Mourinho's side punish Fiorentina, Go Deeper below.
(Photo: Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
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