Chelsea and Monaco have reached an agreement on the Axel Disasi transfer fee which will see the French defender move to Stamford Bridge. Despite reported interest from other Premier League clubs, only Chelsea have been willing to meet Monaco’s asking price with a deal struck worth €45m, which works out at around £38.6m.
BREAKING: Chelsea agree a deal in principle with Monaco for defender Axel Disasi for a fee in the region of £38.6m 🔵pic.twitter.com/6RuQeqXjdk
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) July 30, 2023
Disasi is now expected to complete his medical before putting pen to paper on a five year deal with the option of a further year. It will be the first time the centre-back has played outside his native France where he initially made his name with Reims before moving to Monaco in 2020.
There has been interest all summer in the 25 year old. Manchester United and Arsenal were among his admirers while Newcastle United had reportedly agreed personal terms with Disasi. Those clubs will now need to look for other defensive targets should they wish to add a centre-back to their ranks this summer.
Chelsea’s interest in Disasi came later and was sparked by a serious ACL injury suffered by Wesley Fofana. The former Leicester man is set to miss a large portion of the 2023/24 season and with Kalidou Koulibaly having recently left to join Al-Hilal, the London club were desperate to add a new centre-back to increase Mauricio Pochettino’s options.
Is Axel Disasi worth €45m?
With multiple Premier League clubs circling, Monaco were in a strong bargaining position and were never realistically going to settle for much less than an asking price which was reported to be in the region of €45-50m. That’s perhaps slightly more than Disasi’s value but given the current market conditions, it’s certainly not a wild overpayment for one of the most impressive defenders in Ligue 1 in recent years.
The €45m Axel Disasi transfer fee was one that Arsenal were reportedly unwilling to pay, sparking the Gunners to pull out of the race for a defender who featured in every league game for Monaco last term, starting all but one.
However, Arsenal’s need for a new centre-back was considerably less pressing, not least because they’ve already signed a new defender in the shape of Jurrien Timber this summer for a very similar fee. With the new Premier League season on the horizon and Chelsea desperate for a fast start following the horror show that was last term, they’ll see this as a good deal for a French international who should arrive fit and hungry to show he is capable of filling the void left by the injured Fofana.
