Serie A club Atalanta inquire about former player Davide Zappacosta — report

Davide Zappacosta, who spent last season on loan at Italian side, AS Roma, could return home for next season as well. While the 28-year-old will most probably not rejoin the Giallorossi due to the number of right backs the club already have at their disposal, fellow Serie A club, Fiorentina could be another option for the Italian international (although it’s worth noting that La Viola have already signed Pol Lirola).

According to Gianluca Di Marzio however, another Serie A club have inquired about Zappacosta’s situation. The report claims that while Atalanta BC were in talks to sign Rick Karsdorp from Roma, negotiations have stalled now due to the financial demands of the deal (and possibly because Roma want Karsdorp to replace Zappacosta in the squad?). As a result, Atalanta have approached Chelsea.

Atalanta are looking for someone to fill the void left by Timothy Castagne’s departure to Leicester City as replacement for Chelsea-bound Ben Chilwell (okay, the number of interlinks involved is making my head hurt!).

Any deal would be a loan deal (color me surprised!), with Atalanta unlikely to take the risk of signing Zappacosta permanently so soon after his return from a cruciate ligament rupture.

Zappacosta’s current contract expires in 2022, so Chelsea could still send him on loan with a buy-option for a season, and then try to offload him next summer. Chelsea will probably want to recoup most of the €25m we paid to Torino, but he needs to get back to playing first. Atalanta, where Zappacosta broke onto the Serie A scene in the first place, could be the smart move at this point.