Chelsea supporters would have been extremely disappointed with how the club’s transfer window went in the summer of 2017.
Antonio Conte wanted to sign Virgil van Dijk and some other top players to really improve his side following the club’s title triumph.
However, Chelsea failed to land Van Dijk, Romelu Lukaku and Alex Sandro — three of Conte‘s top targets.
They ended up with players who would have been further down the Italian’s list, such as Davide Zappacosta. At one point, though, the defender was actually looking like a really good signing for the Blues.
Davide Zappacosta’s stunning goal in the Champions League
It did not take too long for Zappacosta to score his first goal for Chelsea, which was a terrific one, albeit quite fluky.
The Italian started in the 6-0 thrashing of Qarabag — the Blues’ first Champions League group stage game of the 2017/18 season — and crossed the ball into the net after going on a brilliant run.
It was only Qarabag, opposition from Azerbaijan, but Zappacosta looked a perfect fit for Conte’s system after that bit of play.
The 55-year-old continued with his 3-4-3 formation after all of the success that it brought Chelsea in the previous campaign, meaning he was still using wing-backs. And the way Zappacosta breezed past a bunch of Qarabag players on the right flank before putting an unstoppable ball into the box made him look like the ideal wing-back.
Unfortunately, though, Zappacosta could not kick on from there and will probably have to go down as a flop, especially after all of the excitement he caused after that goal.
The Italy international only made 12 starts in the Premier League that season before going on to make just one the following campaign. Under Maurizio Sarri, in total, he only made four appearances in the top flight.
While someone like N’Golo Kante was a favourite of Conte’s, Zappacosta could never fully convince his former boss.
How Davide Zappacosta felt about his Chelsea experience
Zappacosta eventually returned to Italy, joining AS Roma on a loan deal in 2019 before signing for Atalanta permanently a couple of years later.
His time in England was short and not the most successful on an individual level, but the player has no regrets.
When asked about his two seasons at Chelsea, he told Roma’s official website: “Training with top players helped me and playing in the Premier League was a really important experience. The first year was very positive and I managed to make lots of appearances — I felt really good. Under Sarri, in the second season, I found it tougher going.
“The team captain was ahead of me in the pecking order and I struggled to get noticed by the coach, so lost a bit of confidence. In my position, you have to run a lot — and if you’re not keeping the legs moving all the time you lose fitness and it’s difficult to play one or two matches per month. We won the Europa League, though, which was an amazing feeling.”
A good guy with some good attributes, it really is disappointing that things did not quite work out for Zappacosta after that unforgettable goal against Qarabag.
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