David Ornstein and Fabrizio Romano confirm Chelsea’s next hijack

Carlo Garganese

30 Jul 2023 18:03 BST
3 min read

Conor Gallagher, Mauricio Pochettino — © ProShots

Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Monaco defender Axel Disasi, beating Man Utd to the punch.

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The Athletic transfer expert David Ornstein reported on Sunday afternoon that Chelsea have agreed a deal in principle with Monaco.

Chelsea will pay Monaco a fee in the region of €45 million for the France international.

Soon after Ornstein reported the news exclusively, Fabrizio Romano followed up with his own tweet confirming the story.

Romano claimed that Chelsea had found an agreement with Monaco and that the negotiation was at its final stages. Romano added that the transfer will be sealed next week as Monaco have already found their replacement for Disasi in the form of Mohammed Salisu from Southampton for €15m.

Disasi himself has accepted the transfer to Chelsea, with the 25-year-old excited at moving to the next level in his career.

Ornstein reports that Chelsea moved for Disasi as they needed another right-sided centre back option.

This came after they were rocked by a long-term injury to Wesley Fofana, which could keep him out for much of the 2023-24 season.

Disasi has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs this summer.

Newcastle United agreed personal terms with Diasi earlier in the window, FootballTransfers revealed.

Manchester United had also been in talks with Disasi earlier in the summer but failed to push the transfer over the finish line as they prioritised other targets such as Mason Mount, Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund and Sofyan Amrabat.

Disasi is the latest big-money sale from Monaco, who have offloaded the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni and Benoit Badiashile for big fees in the last year.