He Atletico Madrid has made official the arrival of César Azpilicueta for the 2023/2024 season, after finishing his contract with the Chelsea. In this way, the Spaniard ends his long period in the London team, accumulating more than 500 parties with the t-shirt blue in eleven years.
The legacy of César Azpilicueta at Chelsea
On August 24, 2012, César Azpilicueta was announced as a new player of the Chelsea, after the English paid more than 10 million euros to sign him from Olympique de Marseille.
In his first season as blue, the Navarrese was trained by his compatriot Rafael Benitezwinning the uefa cup 2012-2013, raising the first of his European titles. The next coach to train the Spaniard was Jose Mourinho, who did not have Azpilicueta in his early days as Chelsea manager. However, an injury to the mythical Ashley Cole allowed the Spaniard to gain a foothold as a starter in the left side, signing a great season. In fact, the Portuguese coach went so far as to ensure that ‘with eleven Azpilicuetas we could win the Champions League’. The Navarrese was chosen by his companions as best player of the seasonahead of some stars like Eden Hazard.
Until 2016, César was a fixture in Chelsea’s line-ups at left-back, earning his first premier league titleplus one League Cup. With the arrival of Antonio Conte to the bench, the youth squad from Osasuna became part of a defense of three centers that would remain throughout the Italian’s time at Chelsea. Just one year later, Londoners were crowned as Premier League Champions 2016-2017, with a César Azpilicueta playing every possible minute in the league.
That same season he wore for the first time the captain armbandin an FA Cup match, competition that would end up winning. with the march of John Terry y Gary Cahill, Spanish became the first captain Chelsea in the 2018-2019 season, raising that same season the Europa League. Finally, the Spaniard closed his excellent career as a Chelsea player, signing a season to remember with the coach Thomas Tuchel, raising the Champions League, in addition to the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
These eleven years as blue they place him as the sixth footballer with the most appearances in the history of Chelsea, the first of them that is not English. Finally, the Spanish abandon the 33-year-old London entity after a difficult season, and heading to their native country to face a new challenge.
César Azpilicueta says goodbye to Chelsea | Image: Getty Images
César Azplicueta and Chelsea go their separate ways
After a long and successful career, César Azpilicueta has abandoned the Chelsea after finishing his contract, to sign for the Atletico Madrid as a free agent. those of the Cholo Simeone have opted for the veteran Spanish defender for the next campaign, with the aim of exploiting his versatility in defense, being able to occupy several positions. For its part, Chelsea loses its captain, leaving his legacy to footballers like Thiago Silva o Reece Jameswho will be in charge of leading a Chelsea that will fight to return to the top of the table.
2023-07-07 16:41:22
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