Azpilicueta to finish Chelsea exit as Pochettino ponders new captain
The 33-year-old has been allowed to leave Chelsea on a free transfer in recognition of his service to the membership.
Chelsea have reached a mutual settlement to waive the ultimate 12 months of his contract, which was because of expire subsequent summer time.
Azpilicueta has revamped 500 appearances for Chelsea since his £7million transfer from Marseille in 2012 and received each out there main trophy in that point, together with two Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, two League Cups and the Champions League in 2021.
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Chelsea house owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali have given the defender the inexperienced mild to go away after he helped the membership out of a troublesome scenario final summer time.
The Blues had didn’t signal a bunch of defensive targets and had been left scrambling for costly choices like Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella.
Then-manager Thomas Tuchel and the house owners satisfied Azpilicueta to reject a transfer to Barcelona and keep for yet another season.
Chelsea had been significantly in want after seeing each Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen depart on free transfers.
Azpilicueta held off on a transfer again to Spain however desires to complete his profession in his homeland for household causes, which has additionally been recognised by Chelsea.
Emotional farewell: Captain Cesar Azpilicueta is leaving Chelsea after 11 years of service
/ Chelsea FC by way of Getty ImagesMauricio Pochettino will now need to find a new captain to replace Azpilicueta, with Thiago Silva, Reece James and Kepa Arrizabalaga among the contenders to take the armband.
New signing Malo Gusto, a 20-year-old proper again, will function Azpilicueta’s substitute within the squad after Chelsea signed him for £31m in January.