According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Chelsea have reached an agreement in principle with AS Monaco to sign Axel Disasi this summer.
Chelsea are looking for a fresh start in their upcoming Premier League campaign with new manager Mauricio Pochettino looking to improve upon the struggles the West London club faced last season.
The Blues finished 12th in the top-flight and struggled to compete on the European stage despite an incredible £500m spending spree, something that is showing no signs of slowing down as the club endeavour to patch up their problems.
Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku are the latest additions who will be expected to improve the goal contributions and attacking threat, however, Pochettino has big problems to address at the other end of the pitch.
Wesley Fofana has suffered a heart-breaking anterior cruciate ligament injury and has now undergone surgery ahead of his recovery period which is expected to be many months ahead.
Not only that, Benoit Badiashile is also injured and not expected to return until after the Premier League commences, leaving the new Chelsea boss with just Thiago Silva, Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill to choose from, as it stands.
As a result, the fresh update from Ornstein today could not have come at a better time for Chelsea and would have been a huge sigh of relief for the supporters.
The Athletic reporter tweeted:
“EXCLUSIVE: Chelsea have reached an agreement in principle with AS Monaco to sign defender Axel Disasi. #CFC set to pay #ASMonaco ~€45m for 25yo France int’l. Right centre-back option. Fofana out for considerable period due to knee injury @TheAthleticFC”
Our thoughts on Chelsea’s move for Axel Disasi…
It will come as no surprise that the West Londoners have wasted no time in their decision to snap up the services of another centre-back and right-footed titan Disasi would be an incredible prospect.
The Monaco star has been linked on numerous occasions to Manchester United and Newcastle United over past few weeks, however, it is now looking like Chelsea will benefit from his defensive strengths.
As per FBref, Disasi ranks in the top 10% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for assists, progressive passes, progressive carries, successful take-ons and touches, as well as ranking in the top 25% for aerial duels won and interceptions, proving that he is one of the most prolific ball-playing defenders in Europe at present.
Over 38 Ligue 1 appearances last season, the 25-year-old Frenchman scored three goals, won 59% of his ground and aerial duels combined and successfully completed 72% of his dribbles, as well as averaging 1.5 interceptions and 2.9 clearances per game.
Disasi has been the recipient of high praise over his career with football talent scout Jacek Kulig hailing him a “complete” and “dominant” centre-back and also claimed that he has a similar profile to Virgil van Dijk, who boasts strengths in “pace, tackling, heading, athleticism, tenacity and timing”.
With that being said, the signing of Disasi is an exciting move for Chelsea and will considerably improve the defensive options available for Pochettino to unleash over the Premier League season ahead.
