According to a recent report by Gianluca Di Marzio, Serie A outfit Fiorentina are said to be keen on a season-long loan deal for Chelsea’s out-of-favour Italian full-back Davide Zappacosta. The report suggests that La Viola are vying to bring the speedster back to Italy for another season and that talks with the player’s agent have already begun as well. The Serie A club’s desire to acquire a new right-back going into next season has been no secret, and they seem to have identified the Chelsea man as a good option for the role.
Although the report has clarified that Fiorentina are keen on a loan deal for Chelsea’s Davide Zappacosta, whether or not the player chooses a return to Serie A as his preferred move for next season remains to be seen. Fiorentina have reportedly begun to make contact, having already met with the player’s agent and held initial discussions over a potential summer switch. Despite this focused interest by La Viola, they are also said to be looking at a couple of other options, including Pescara’s Gabriele Zappa from the Serie B.
What Is Chelsea’s Current Right-Back Situation?
The London club currently have two distinct right-back options to choose from in their ranks, which means that there isn’t going to be an immediate need for a third. Cesar Azpilicueta is among the longest-serving first-team members over recent years, and his presence in the role makes Lampard’s job of distributing the playing time that much easier. A majority of the matches that the Spaniard has played for Chelsea has been at right-back, although he is more than capable of operating on the left or even as a centre-half depending on the requirement.
The second option for Lampard is prodigious academy graduate Reece James, who burst onto the scene last season and has already earned quite the reputation. A superb crosser of the ball, James is still only 20-years-old, which means that he could develop into Azpilicueta’s long-term successor at Stamford Bridge.
Between the two of them, Lampard wouldn’t have to even consider a third alternative for the role. While James offers a much more attacking presence, Azpilicueta is often regarded to be one of the best one-on-one defenders in the entire division.
What Is Davide Zappacosta’s Legacy At Chelsea?
The Italian speedster arrived from the Serie A a while ago, but it’s safe to say that he is yet to really nail down a place in the Blues’ first-team setup. Although he has made a flurry of appearances, at no point has it looked like the Italian would develop into a Stamford Bridge regular.
The defender arrived from Torino with a massive reputation for being an attack-minded full-back, but he has found settling into life in the Premier League to be quite the task. Having been in the London club’s books for the last three seasons now, Zappacosta has only featured in 52 appearances, a period during which he notched up two goals and four assists.
Fiorentina Are Keen On Loan For Chelsea’s Davide Zappacosta: Why Lampard Must Ship Him Out
The Italian’s career as a Chelsea player has never taken an upward trend, and given the revolution that’s currently ongoing in west London, his chances of possibly breaking into the first-team this season are looking extremely bleak. The levels of the players that the Blues have been targeting and acquiring are well above the Italian’s standard, and keeping him in the side wouldn’t really serve too much of a purpose. The best thing for the Blues to do would be to simply sell the speedster off, but if a loan deal is all that’s available, then Lampard need not think twice about sanctioning the switch.
