https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/08/24/zappacosta-joins-atalanta
Zappacosta joins Atalanta
24 Aug 2021
Davide Zappacosta has today joined Atalanta on a permanent deal.
https://i.imgur.com/o6QORnb.jpg
The Italian defender heads back to the club where he first played Serie A
football, ending his four-year Chelsea career.
Zappacosta spent last season in his homeland on loan with Genoa and
featured heavily for Il Grifone, recovering well from a serious knee
injury he sustained while on loan with Roma the season prior, and going on
to feature 25 times for the northern Italy side.
The right-back made a number of appearances for the Blues in pre-season
but with the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James above him in the
pecking order at present, Thomas Tuchel has allowed Zappacosta to move on.
The 29-year-old defender will be returning to familiar surroundings at
Atalanta, having made his breakthrough in Serie A with them in 2014/15,
before earning a move to Torino.
His impressive performances in Turin led to Antonio Conte signing the
right-back for Chelsea in 2017, with Zappacosta netting a memorable goal
against Qarabag on his full debut.
He also netted his first Premier League goal in a big home victory, over
Stoke City, and he ended his first campaign with 35 appearances to his
name and an FA Cup winner's medal after we defeated Manchester United at
Wembley.
https://i.imgur.com/Pi0vdE2.jpg
Zappacosta played four times in our successful 2018 FA Cup campaign
Zappacosta's involvement during the 2018/19 campaign was limited to the
domestic cup competitions and the Europa League, although the Italian
impressed when called upon due to his ability to get forward at pace and
deliver dangerous balls from wide areas.
In the Carabao Cup win over Derby County, two of our three goals came from
Zappacosta crosses, and it was another of his deliveries which led to
Ruben Loftus-Cheek being brought down for a penalty during the FA Cup win
over Nottingham Forest.
Used largely off the bench in the latter stages of that season, Zappacosta
came on in the second leg of our Europa League semi-final against
Eintracht Frankfurt, adding some much-needed energy to proceedings, and
again in the final against Arsenal when the scoring was complete.
The defender has 13 Italy caps to his name and now returns to Serie A to
continue his career. We would like to thank Davide for his services and
wish him the best of luck in the future.