Zappacosta agent wants Chelsea to lower demands for Lazio transfer — report

According to Italian newspaper Il Tempo (via Sport Witness), Davide Zappacosta’s agent Alessandro Lucci has travelled to London to try to convince Chelsea to lower the demands for the right back, who apparently wants to return to Italy 1.5 years after joining Chelsea.

Whereas earlier reports claimed that Lazio and Chelsea had been working on a £13m deal, Chelsea’s demands are now said to be closer to £16m (€18m). Either way, Lazio doesn’t want to pay that much and they’d prefer a loan with a buy-option above all else. Chelsea aren’t took keen on losing another backup/depth player at this time however, and thus see little reason to acquiesce to such demands. Without Lazio willing to fork over actual cash, Zappacosta isn’t likely to leave in January.

Zappacosta will have two years left on his contract at the end of the season. That will be the ideal time to decide whether his future lies in continuing to be César Azpilicueta’s backup, or in returning to Italy to play a more important role somewhere else.