It's likely the Blues wouldn't have signed him if Wesley Fofana wasn't injured, but the defender could prove to be an inspired addition
On July 18, Chelsea's pre-season preparations hit a sizable bump in the road. Wesley Fofana being omitted from the Blues' tour of the United States just one day prior had sparked some concerns, but few could have predicted just how bad his injury would prove to be.
Fofana was poised for a big 2023-24 season, following a debut campaign plagued by fitness issues. Instead, he will have to watch Mauricio Pochettino's new-look Chelsea side from the sidelines, with ACL surgery keeping him out of action for an extended period.
Not only was the news a bitter blow for the player – who has already suffered more than his fair share of cruel luck on the injury front during his fledgling career – it also left the Blues with a big decision to make in the transfer market. With Cesar Azpilicueta and Kalidou Koulibaly already having departed west London this summer, Chelsea were suddenly looking perilously short at centre-back.
After spine-chillingly being linked with Harry Maguire a few hours after Fofana's injury was confirmed, they have since gone in a different direction, swooping to sign Axel Disasi from Monaco for a reported fee of €45 million (£39m/$50m).
Disasi, 25, was somewhat of a late bloomer, not making his France debut until last year. But by securing this Chelsea move he is set to finally test himself at the very highest level after a few hype-building seasons in Ligue 1.
Getty ImagesWhere it all began
Disasi was born in Gonesse, a suburb of Paris, in 1998. He is eligible to represent DR Congo, as well as France, through his parents. After signing on with two local teams, he was spotted by Paris FC in 2014 and enjoyed a meteoric rise to the first team.
In December 2015, with Paris in the midst of an injury crisis, coach Jean-Luc Vasseur turned to a then 17-year-old Disasi for their Ligue 2 clash against French giants Lens. Vasseur explained his bold decision to at the time, saying: "I didn't hesitate to put him in, so he shouldn't hesitate on the pitch. I've never been afraid to put my faith in young players. Axel is the future of the club, he has great qualities. He'll be well looked after and chaperoned. So there's no reason why things shouldn't go well."
Disasi was similarly enthused by the prospect of making his league debut, thanking Vasseur for the "fabulous" opportunity – even if he did admit that the game would distract him from his schoolwork!
The match itself went well, with Lens triumphing 1-0 thanks to a bizarre, deflected goal. Disasi performed solidly and was rewarded with two further Ligue 2 appearances, though this time at right-back as opposed to centre-back.
After this brief run in the first team, he did not feature for a struggling Paris FC side again and therefore could not prevent them finishing stone-dead last in Ligue 2 that season.
Disasi was saved from the career-stagnating perils of third-tier football by Stade Reims, who signed him in the summer of 2016. Still a teenager, he had to be patient throughout his time at the club.
He did not progress to the senior side for some time and his minutes were also slashed when Reims were promoted to Ligue 1 in 2018. However, the following summer, his big break came when Bjorn Engels was sold to Aston Villa. This opened the door for Disasi to start alongside Yunis Abdelhamid and he would make a career-high 27 appearances during the 2019-20 campaign. It would have been more too, if not for the season being cut short by the coronavirus pandemic.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesThe big break
Disasi's move to Monaco in 2020 was the biggest moment of his career so far. While he'd been highly-rated in France during his time at Reims, joining Monaco – a finishing school for the best young talents in Europe – put him in the shop window for the continent's biggest sides.
It was a brave decision too. Monaco could not offer Disasi European football during his maiden season – unlike Reims, who progressed to the Europa League via points-per-game. But it proved to be the right one.
Straight away he forced his way into the first team, forming an excellent understanding with Benoit Badiashile, whom he is set to be reunited with at Chelsea. During his maiden campaign at Monaco, Disasi made 29 league appearances and scored three goals as his side finished just five points behind champions Lille in third.
Overall, it was a coming-of-age season. Disasi was now fully established as one of Ligue 1's most reliable defenders.
Getty ImagesHow it's going
By his own admission, one of the great disappointments of Disasi's career so far is that he's never tasted Champions League football – and he will need to wait at least a season to experience that a Stamford Bridge.
Monaco's third-place finish in 2021 offered them the chance to secure a place at European football's top table, but they were beaten in the qualifiers by competition stalwarts Shakhtar Donetsk. It was a huge disappointment, but Disasi responded by taking his game to new heights during the season, missing just six games as Monaco again secured a third-place finish.
The 2022-23 campaign began in an eerily similar vein, with Les Rouge et Blanc crashing out of Champions League qualification at the hands of PSV. But for Disasi, it would be his best personal season ever. Not only was he ever-present in Ligue 1, an injury to Presnel Kimpembe opened up a spot for him in France's World Cup squad.
"I was on my way home to get my family and my luggage to go to the airport when I received a call from [France coach] Didier Deschamps," he told GOAL back in March. "I pulled over to the side of the road to continue the call. The coach told me I needed to be at Clairefontaine today. On the spot, I was so happy and proud, but I needed to arrange my departure very quickly."
Disasi joined the exclusive club of players to make their national-team debut at a World Cup when he started at right-back for France's group-stage dead rubber against Tunisia. Although Les Bleus suffered a shock defeat, it's a day he will never forget.
Disasi also came on for the final seconds of France's heart-breaking loss to Argentina in the greatest World Cup final of all time. He got the best seat in the house for Randal Kolo Muani's infamous one-on-one miss against Emiliano Martinez.
"I see the Argentinian defender make a mistake and Randal comes up against the keeper. I'm thinking 'he's going to kill him, he's going to put it in' and seeing the scenario end like that, it would be so crazy. I tell myself he's going to score and we're going to be world champions," he recalled.
Of course, it didn't happen like that, with Disasi having to content himself with a silver medal.
GettyBiggest strengths
Disasi can do special things with the ball at his feet. It's this ball-carrying and passing ability that made him stand out above all else when Chelsea were looking for Fofana's replacement. In his own words, his biggest strength is: "play[ing] the ball out from the back cleanly, and hav[ing] fun on the pitch," and it's hard to disagree with his assessment.
Throughout his career, Disasi has largely been used on the right side of a centre-back pairing and occasionally in the middle of a defensive three. One of his favourite passes is a reverse long ball out to the left wing, though he can also fire shorter passes into a deep-lying playmaker, even sometimes asking for a one-two.
The stats back up Disasi's excellent passing ability. Just two centre-backs in Europe's top-five leagues completed more progressive passes last season; the only Premier League player who came remotely close to matching him was Brighton's Lewis Dunk.
Disasi doesn't only start off attacking sequences with his passing, either. He also relishes the chance to drive his side forward by striding out from the back. The Frenchman has wondrous close control and is strong enough to hold off most players. This deadly combination means he can power into the opposition half after making an interception, or when his side are struggling to bypass the initial press.
Disasi averaged 1.73 progressive carries per 90 minutes last season. For context, that was comfortably more than every other Chelsea centre-back barring the man he is primed to replace: Fofana.
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Additionally, Disasi has an impressive record in the opposition box, plundering 12 goals in 129 appearances for Monaco so far. This is partly down to his strength in the air, which helps in defensive situations too. However, it's also clear that he has a burning desire to find the back of the net.
Whenever a set piece is swung in, Disasi attacks the ball with serious gusto. His strike against Nantes summed this up nicely, with the centre-back producing a textbook defender's finish, thumping it with all his might into the back of the net.