Chelsea have announced the completed transfer of Italian defender Davide Zappacosta from Torino in a reported £23million deadline day move.
The 25-year-old emerged as a somewhat surprise target for the Blues late on in this transfer window, with Antonio Conte finally managing to sign another player for cover in the wing-back positions.
Zappacosta has impressed with Torino and with the Italian national team, though is not the big name many Chelsea fans will have been craving.
Still, with failed pursuits for the likes of Alex Sandro, Antonio Candreva and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Conte turned to raid Serie A once again with a move for Zappacosta.
Torino confirmed the deal before Chelsea made it official, with the Premier League champions perhaps otherwise engaged as they also looked to get a late deal for Danny Drinkwater over the line.
However, they announced the signing shortly afterwards, with the player telling the club's official website: 'It is a dream for me to join Chelsea and play in the Premier League. I am very excited to be here and start working with the team. I hope I can show my quality to the coach, my team-mates and the supporters.'
It was a frustrating deadline day for Chelsea, who also missed out on Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool, Fernando Llorente to Tottenham, and on Ross Barkley, who decided against a move midway through his medical with the club.
Zappacosta will be hoping to prove a success at Chelsea despite not being the marquee signing fans have been craving, much in the same way that Marcos Alonso has managed since a low-key arrival from Fiorentina last year.
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