Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
Atalanta are close to agreeing a deal with Chelsea for the transfer of Davide Zappacosta.
Both Atalanta and Serie A rivals Fiorentina had been discussing a loan move for the defender, but then Atalanta enquired as to whether there was the possibility to make a move for him permanent.
Chelsea, looking to trim their bloated squad before deadline day, were happy to entertain the offer, a and now he is on the verge of signing a four-year deal to return to Italy.
Signed in 2017 from Torino for a fee around £25 million, the right-back has never really established himself with the Premier League club, although he did win the FA Cup with the team in 2018, and the Europa League the following season.
He was loaned to Roma in 2019, but barely played for them after suffering an ACL injury during training, but returned to Italy and Genoa for another loan spell last season.
This will be his third spell at Atalanta. The Italian international played for them between 2011 and 2012, and again between 2014 and 2015.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.