Chelsea swoop in and sign Man United target as Wesley Fofana replacement

French defender Axel Disasi was originally linked to Manchester United and Newcastle, but he is reportedly heading to Chelsea

David Ornstein is exclusively revealing that Chelsea has signed Axel Disasi for reportedly £38m. With Wesley Fofana out for an extended period of time, Disasi is seen as a replacement for his fellow Frenchman. Axel Disasi will be reunited with former centre-back partner Benoit Badiashile. The pair could very well play with each at Chelsea, given Disasi is a right-sided centre-back while Badiashile is a natural left-sided defender.

This deal has come out of nowhere, with essentially zero prior links between the club and the player. As The Top Flight covered earlier this summer, Fabrizio Romano reported that both Newcastle and Manchester United were exploring a potential deal for Axel Disasi. Erik ten Hag reportedly approved the club to explore a deal further, but they are now set to miss out on the Monaco defender’s signature.

While it won’t be a like-for-like replacement, Southampton’s Mohammed Sailsu is expected to join AS Monaco for £12.8m.

Disasi progressed through Paris FC’s academy before eventually joining Stade Reims, which was still in Ligue 2 when he joined the club. The Parisian joined AS Monaco in August 2020 and now has seen his value skyrocket, making him wanted by clubs such as Chelsea. Disasi made his debut for France at the World Cup, although he mainly saw the bench during his time in Qatar. He was called up again for the French national team for the recent Euros qualifier windows.

Before the signing of Axel Disasi, only Thiago Silva and Trevor Chalobah were the healthy options for Chelsea at right centre-back. The latter is not expected to be a feature under Mauricio Pochettino, and Thiago Silva is now 38. Axel Disasi is a young but ready option for Chelsea, who will likely start plenty of matches for the club.