César Azpilicueta: Chelsea DNA Could Change Forever When Its Last Guardian Leaves

El Capitano rubbed shoulders with Drogba, Lampard & other titans, missed 12 games in 11 years & won nine titles. The last link to a Golden Age could be playing his final Chelsea game tomorrow.

When Olympique de Marseille signed a young Spanish defender in 2010 and dubbed him the future of Spanish football, former Marseille fullback Eric Di Meco was almost left in disbelief. In fact, he was so convinced that their new signing was a dud that he promised to eat a rat if the young Spaniard managed to win even a single cap for La Roja. 3 years later, that defender debuted for the Spanish national team in a 3-1 friendly win over Uruguay. Di Meco appeared on RMC radio shortly after, and true to his word, ate a Coypu, a French river rat, on air. Over the course of his illustrious career, César Azpilicueta would go on to make a fair few doubters swallow their words.

Signed for just £7m from Marseille, not many envisioned Azpilicueta (or anyone for that matter) breaking into a defense that had endured every siege on its way to a first Champions League title. But in just over a year, he began benching club legend Ashley Cole, arguably the best left-back in PL history. The club signed Atletico LB Felipe Luis as competition, but he only lasted one season. “He played so well he never gave me a chance,” Luis went on to say about Azpilicueta, a sentiment many PL attackers have gone on to echo over the years.

Azpilicueta’s lasting image is that concocted from the two best-known exports of his home region of Navarra – wine and San Fermin’s encierro, an event in which locals are chased across streets by bulls. Azpilicueta made a living out of outwitting stronger, faster opponents rampaging towards him, putting himself in their path and emerging unscathed to the crowd’s applause; all with his shirt neatly tucked in. His legacy as one of the league’s best 1v1 defenders shone brighter with every vintage display. At his imperious best, he moved, mirrored and marked an opponent as ably as his own shadow. During the first nine-and-a-half years of his Chelsea career, he did not make a single error leading to an opposition goal. His laser-guided crosses from the right half-space did more than a fair amount to alleviate Chelsea’s number 9 curse.

After starting his career as a forward, moving to midfield, then right back, dislodging a club legend at left-back, he went on to win a PL title (without missing a single minute) as a centerback for Antonio Conte. He is the only Chelsea player ever to win every major trophy at the club; he is also their leading non-English appearance maker, recently surpassing the 500 mark.

Creator: Justin Setterfield | Credit: Getty Images

Time, alas, is the most elusive opponent of all. In the twilight of the Abramovic era, Azpilicueta’s glow dimmed too, but has still radiated enough to cast light on Chelsea’s decline from the peak of European glory to mid-table obscurity. Owners, managers, coaches, players, medical staff and performances – the magnitude of the change has come as a jarring reminder to how even the strongest of foundations remain at the mercy of volatile tectonic shifts. The faults that once went unnoticed yesterday leave gaping fissures today. 

Over the past two years, it was often heart-wrenching to watch a universally loved stalwart of the club grapple against the idea of aging. His mind and body often looked locked in conflict – the mind pushing him onwards with the verve of his 20-year-old self, but then, in the seconds in which possession changed hands, offering a brutal reminder that his body was now 33 years old – no longer the sleek, supple container that made him seem less man and more machine.

It is quite easy to forget that in the midst of this jarring transition between eras, Azpilicueta remains the only link in the current team between two Champions League winning squads. He is the only player who can claim to have done both – dined with the titans that defined the glory of the era past and led the next generation into a new dawn. With a move back home to Spain with Barcelona falling through in the summer at the club’s request, and reports that he wished for a new challenge after winning everything at the club, perhaps a goodbye would have been easier, certainly fonder. 

But during a year in which the club changed ownership, lost CL winning manager Thomas Tuchel and first-choice CBs in Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, Azpilicueta did what leaders do and put the team’s needs before his own. He ended up playing more minutes in the league than heir apparent Reece James. His presence on-the-field may not have proved as influential as in the past, but Azpilicueta did what he has done best since his first Chelsea game nearly 3,900 days ago – he was there when it mattered most. Jose Mourinho once said “I think a team with 11 Azpilicuetas would probably win the Champions League." In the end, it took just one to conquer the European quartet – the Champions League, the Europa League, the Super Cup and the Club World Cup (he won all of them as captain.) 

After a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Manchester United added more misery to Chelsea's worst league campaign since Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994, the temptation for most Chelsea fans is to boycott more voluntary emotional distress. That, although a commendable idea, would prove to be massively unjust to a player that has served this club with utter distinction for one-thirds of his whole life. The final game against Newcastle at Stamford Bridge will see a banner in the stands dedicated to the man fondly known to Chelsea fans as Dave. That game looks increasingly likely to be his last in blue, with Lyon’s highly-rated Malo Gusto already signed as Reece James’ competition at right-back and a massive squad clear-out looming in the summer. Replacing Azpilicueta the player might seem fairly straightforward, but replacing Azpilicueta the person and leader, will prove anything but.

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