French football expert Jonathan Johnson has written exclusively for CaughtOffside about Chelsea’s moves for both Axel Disasi and Lesley Ugochukwu.
The Blues have done well to raid the French market in recent times, bringing in some exciting talents like Christopher Nkunku and Malo Gusto, and now Disasi and Ugochukwu are joining them at Stamford Bridge.
Johnson has discussed the deals in his latest column on CaughtOffside’s Substack, praising the work done by Chelsea, who he feels will have seen Ugochukwu as too good an opportunity to turn down, while Disasi’s arrival also follows plenty of interest from other Premier League clubs in recent transfer windows.
The Ligue 1 writer also provided some insight into what might come next for Ugochukwu, stating that it looks like he’ll be loaned out to Strasbourg, who were also recently obtained by Chelsea’s owners.
“Chelsea have raided the French market once again with two more signings to follow recent purchases such as Christopher Nkunku, Benoit Badiashile and Malo Gusto,” Johnson wrote.
“Axel Disasi has been wanted by Premier League clubs for a few transfer windows now so it is no surprise to see that Chelsea have gone for him – especially since Wesley Fofana’s latest injury which dictated that a new arrival would be necessary.
“Disasi is a full France international and will be looking to build upon his experience gained with Monaco. The time was right to make this move given Les Monegasques’ lack of continental football this coming season and the Principality outfit were always going to look to extract a substantial fee for the 25-year-old given his and Youssouf Fofana’s good market values.
“Lesley Ugochukwu is an interesting one as he has been a developing talent with Rennes these past 18 months or so and he was quickly on the radar of a number of top European sides. Chelsea’s speed in doing a deal caught many by surprise, but their reasoning for moving now is a likely loan spell with Strasbourg back in Ligue 1 to continue his development while having him under contract.
“Ugochukwu’s talent and profile was too good an opportunity to pass up so do not be surprised to see him move to Alsace for the coming season once Chelsea return to London.”
Chelsea fans will hope these signings work out after a slightly patchy record under their current owners since they bought the club from Roman Abramovich just over a year ago.