After more than 10 years at Chelsea, Cesar Azpilicueta is leaving the club to join Atletico Madrid on a free transfer.
The versatile defender, who turns 34 in August, made 508 appearances during his time at Chelsea, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League, two Europa Leagues, the FA Cup and the League Cup. Although the Spain international had 1 year left on his contract in West London, the club opted not to stop him from finding a new team, allowing him to leave on a free transfer.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports that Cesar Azpilicueta will sign his contract and confirm the transfer on Thursday to become a player for Atletico Madrid. It will be the first time Cesar Azpilicueta has returned to La Liga since he moved to Marseille from Osasuna in 2010. After two seasons in France, Chelsea signed him for around £7m, proving to be one of the most cost-effective signings in Premier League history. While no transfer fee was received for Cesar Azpilicueta, it marks a massive cleansing of Chelsea's squad to balance the finances to some extent.
Also leaving Stamford Bridge this summer are Mason Mount, Kalidu Kolibaly, Matteo Kovacic, Edul Mendy, Kay Havertz, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Edul Mendy and Ngoro Cante. More players will leave and Christian Pulisic, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Zieki and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are all very unlikely to stay at the club at the start of the new season.