Chelsea full-back Davide Zappacosta is reportedly open to a return to Serie A, as he faces an uncertain future with the Premier League heavyweights.
As per a report from Goal.com, Chelsea defender Davide Zappacosta is considering leaving the club in the ongoing summer transfer window, in favour of a return to Italy in search of regular playing time.
Zappacosta signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2017 from Serie A side Torino in a deal worth a £23 million, but hasn’t been able to establish himself in the first-team. Till date, the Italian right-back has managed just 52 appearances for the West London outfit scoring two goals and assisting four more.
The 27-year-old featured only 17 times last season, with Cesar Azpilicueta firmly ahead of him in the pecking order. With Reece James impressing on loan at Wigan Athletic last season, the youngster is likely to stay at Chelsea this time out and act as cover for Azpilicueta, which would further eat into Zappacosta’s game time.
Moreover, Chelsea will be able to register only 17 foreign players this season in the Champions League and to that end, they have been trying to reduce the number by looking to offload unwanted players.
Kurt Zouma is set to stay at the club and Kenedy too seems to have a role under Frank Lampard, having been heavily involved in pre-season, putting Zappacosta and Tiemoue Bakayoko in the crosshairs. With his situation far from ideal, Zappacosta is considering a move away from the Stamford Bridge before the summer transfer window closes, with a return to Italy being his top preference.
Zappacosta had previously courted interest from Serie A heavyweights AS Roma, but that seems to have died down in recent weeks. Roma’s arch-rivals Lazio too were in the running to land the 27-year-old full-back, but they too have ended the pursuit of the Italian and have gone on to sign Manuel Lazzari from SPAL instead.
However, with Serie A champions Juventus actively looking to offload Joao Cancelo, there could be a flurry of movement in the Italian transfer market for the right-back slot before their transfer window closes on August 18th. This could lead to interest in Zappacosta heating up in the coming weeks.
Zappacosta is contracted with Chelsea till 2021, but as things stand it looks like his time in England is nearing an end. It remains to be seen if the right-back ends up sealing a return back to Italy before the transfer window closes.
