Chelsea’s huge investment this summer has left Xabi Alonso with an enormous squad to manage, with close to 40 players potentially eligible for first-team football.
That number is expected to fall significantly before the window shuts, with around a dozen players understood to have been made available for transfer.
One defender who appears to have no place in Alonso’s plans is now closing in on a move elsewhere in the Premier League.
Disasi Close to Joining Palace
Axel Disasi is nearing a loan move to Crystal Palace, according to The Sun, with the Eagles emerging as favourites to secure the Chelsea defender.
The 28-year-old has not featured for Chelsea’s senior side since January 2025 and has instead spent the last two seasons on temporary spells elsewhere.
Disasi joined Aston Villa in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign before moving to West Ham last season, where he impressed despite being unable to prevent the Hammers from suffering relegation.
West Ham had been keen to take him to the Championship, but Palace now appear poised to win the race.
The Eagles need defensive reinforcements after losing Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix, while Disasi’s potential arrival would add Premier League experience to Pierre Sage’s revamped back line.
Chelsea’s stance has been made increasingly clear, with the £38.8m signing from Monaco not even handed a squad number for the new campaign.
Disasi was previously hailed as a “machine” by former West Ham teammate El Hadji Malick Diouf, but his Chelsea career now looks increasingly close to a temporary exit.
