The Deal And More-
Antonio Conte has managed to bring in one more defender this season after signing Anthony Rudiger from Serie A club AS Roma. Davide Zappacosta is the latest Chelsea player to be unveiled by the London outfit as they prepare to fight for their title defense. Conte was reportedly frustrated by the lack of arrivals at Chelsea this summer and finally managed to recruit a wing-back, he was so desperately looking out for. Zappacosta is a tall and sturdy wing-back who should bring competition to Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso in that wing-back slot.
Zappacosta impressed for his country and club and caught the eye of many clubs before Conte decided to swoop on for the defender who is good defensively and offensively.
The 25 year old Italy international, was ironically handed his first national cap for the country by Conte when the Italian was the manager of the national side.
Chelsea missed out on their prime targets this season and had to look for alternatives just before the transfer window ended.
After having lost Romelu Lukaku to Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, the Blues were also keen on bringing in Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Stamford Bridge but the former Southampton snubbed Chelsea to join league rivals, Liverpool.
But Zappacosta is a really good signing, who would fit in well with Conte’s preferred 3-4-3 formation at Chelsea. His arrival was announced on Thursday night after Italian club Torino agreed to settle for a fee of £23m for Zappacosta.
He will be Chelsea’s fifth summer signing after Alvaro Morata, Willy Caballero, Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Zappacosta said in a recent interview after the deal was completed, “It is a dream for me to join Chelsea and play in the Premier League.”
“I am very excited to be here and start working with the team. I hope I can show my quality to the coach, my team-mates, and the supporters.”
Strengthening The Back Line-
Well, another good Serie A defender in the squad would now mean that Conte’s back-line should look sharp and strong, in order to not just defend the goal, but their league title as well. With the players that have been brought in and already existed in the squad, it will be important to find the right combination and fast.
There is no use of having a good side, both in quality and depth and not winning anything, a less that Liverpool might have learnt over the years, the hard way.
It will be interesting to see how Conte manages to find the right kind of balance in his squad, with the addition and departure of more stars in the summer transfer window.
It promises to be an intriguing season once again and things can only get better from here onwards, as the teams will now look to mould themselves according to the players that have come in and gone out and fit right in, into the manager’s plans.
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