New Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has reportedly agreed to allow long-serving defender Cesar Azpilicueta to leave for free this summer amid strong Inter Milan links.
According to The Sun, newly-appointed Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has given the green light to let Inter Milan-linked stalwart defender and Blues captain Cesar Azpilicueta leave for a nominal fee or even for nothing as a token of appreciation for his dedicated service to the club over the years.
Pochettino officially begins work as Chelsea’s head coach on Saturday. But the Argentine tactician will no doubt already be busy giving his input with regard to transfer activity. The Blues have already released and sold numerous players as they look to trim an extremely bloated squad, with attacker Kai Havertz among them after joining cross-London rivals Arsenal in a £65 million deal.
N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Edouard Mendy have all joined Saudi Pro League clubs on lucrative deals, with Hakim Ziyech set to follow the aforementioned trio to the Middle East. In addition, Mason Mount is closing in on joining Manchester United.
Cesar Azpilicueta is another one emerging as one heading for the exit door before the start of the new Premier League season in West London amid strong interest from Serie A giants Inter Milan.
Since arriving from Marseille for a bargain fee of just £6.5 million back in 2012, Azpilicueta has racked up 508 appearances for the Blues during his trophy-laden career at Stamford Bridge, which saw him lift the Premier League twice and a Champions League trophy along the way.
As Chelsea’s longest-serving member, Azpilicueta took over the captaincy from Gary Cahill in 2019 and has been a leader on and off the pitch ever since. Not only his leadership skills but also his experience at the elite level, combined with his versatility across the back line, made him indispensable in the starting XI. There is no doubt that the Spaniard will go down as an all-time great.
Although the Spaniard is now rather surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge, with Reece James above him in the pecking order at right-back, his exit would leave a huge void given that Chelsea have a huge lack of leaders in their current set-up. Other than Thiago Silva, there is no real leader at Pochettino’s disposal.
Regardless, it appears there is a mutual understanding between the club and the long-serving veteran for him to depart this summer, with Chelsea keen to offload players on big salaries to lighten up their wage bill, while Azpilicueta is looking for a new challenge.
He almost signed for Barcelona a year ago before committing to the club’s new owners and penning a fresh two-year contract. The club captain now has an offer from Inter Milan, which he desires to take up and has even agreed personal terms with the Serie A giants over a two-year contract.
With a year to run on his Chelsea deal, Azpilicueta is hopeful for the Blues to give the green light to a mutual termination of his contract as he wants to join Inter on a free transfer. And as per The Sun, Pochettino will not stand in the 33-year-old defender’s way.
