Chelsea told €45m signing ‘NOT READY’ for step up
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 4 Sept 2023 08:36 BST
- 3 min read
New Chelsea signing Axel Disasi has been told that he has “bad habits” that he must overcome if he is to be a success at Stamford Bridge, former Blues centre-back William Gallas has said.
Disasi joined former Monaco team-mate Benoit Badiashile at the Blues in the summer as he joined for €45 million from the Ligue 1 club.
Gallas has explained that he does not understand the logic of the move from Chelsea’s perspective, despite Disasi featuring in the World Cup final as well as having featured 129 times for Monaco over three seasons in the principality.
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“I was one of the guys who didn’t understand why Disasi joined Chelsea,’ former Blues defender Gallas told Gambling Zone.
“The Premier League is a different league in terms of difficulty. Even though he is a physical player he has to understand strikers will be very strong when they challenge him.
“He has to improve a lot, but he has the opportunity to play alongside Thiago Silva and he has to learn from him, speak to him a lot, and Silva can help him move to the next step.
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“Even though he has joined Chelsea it doesn’t mean he is completely ready.
“He still has some bad habits and he has to change them. That’s why when I saw his name, I thought he was not ready to join Chelsea.
“But you have to give him time to settle into a new country, new players and a new club. You have to give him time. When you have a foreign player who joins the Premier League you have to at least give them one year.”
Disasi with a solid Chelsea start
Although Chelsea have had a disappointing start to the season, including a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday at Stamford Bridge, Disasi’s performances have generally been sound since joining Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
He will take part in France’s international break, potentially featuring against Ireland and Germany, before returning to the Chelsea squad for a Premier League encounter with Bournemouth in a fortnight.
