Chelsea confirm Davide Zappacosta has joined Atalanta on permanent deal

Chelsea have confirmed the departure of Davide Zappacosta, who has joined Atalanta in a permanent deal.

The defender signed for the Blues back in 2017 and has since gone on to make 52 appearances in all competitions. His recent Chelsea career has been spent on loan with Zappacosta joining Roma for the 2019/20 campaign before spending last season at Genoa.

Now, he returns to Italy again - only this time on a permanent basis with Atalanta. Zappacosta could face his former club in the Champions League this season.

Chelsea fans will fondly remember the fine goal he scored on his full debut in that competition. Racing past a host of players down the left-hand side Zappacosta unleashed an unstoppable effort to help Chelsea to a comfortable group-stage win over Qarabag.

During that maiden season he would go on to make 22 Premier League appearances, battling it out with Victor Moses for the starting right-back spot. Following Antonio Conte's departure in 2018 he became a marginal figure, featuring mainly in Europa League games under Maurizio Sarri. This included a one-minute cameo in the final where the Blues beat London rivals Arsenal 1-0.

Zappacosta becomes the latest player out the door at Stamford Bridge this summer in what has been a busy summer.

So far Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Victor Moses and Olivier Giroud have all been sold. They could be joined by Kurt Zouma before the transfer window shuts too, as he is a target for West Ham. Meanwhile, Billy Gilmour, Kenedy and Michy Batshuayi are among those that have left on loan.

The majority of the revenue raised by these sales has been invested in the club-record signing of Romelu Lukaku who joined from Inter for over £100m earlier this month. There could still be one more arrival, though, with the Blues keen on bringing in Saul Niguez on loan.