To think, Axel Disasi might have started a Premier League match this weekend had he opted to make a move from Chelsea to Sunderland, Bournemouth, Wolves or West Ham United.
In hindsight, the decision he made in the dying embers of deadline day may be one he grows to regret.
While Graham Potter weighs up handing Igor Julio his debut against Tottenham Hotspur in Saturday’s 5.30 kick-off, Axel Disasi will be nowhere to be seen when Chelsea travel to West London neighbours Brentford later in the evening.
Chelsea outcast Disasi rebuffed West Ham’s advances in the hope that former employers Monaco would make a move of their own. Instead, the 7pm deadline came and went with the £38 million France international still stuck in the Stamford Bridge bomb squad.
And, as Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca explains, Disasi’s punishment for turning down a last-gasp move to West Ham United will be to spend the next few months training with the rest of the Blues’ big-money misfits.
Enzo Maresca confirms Axel Disasi’s Chelsea fate after West Ham United snub
Last month, Disasi offered Chelsea fans a glimpse into life behind the scenes at Cobham.
He posted a photo of himself in a claustrophobia-inducing dressing room alongside fellow misfits Armando Broja and Alfie Gilchrist. Now, while Broja moved to Burnley and Gilchrist secured a fresh start at West Brom, Disasi appears certain to have played his final minutes of competitive football this year.
Maresca, speaking ahead of that Brentford clash, confirms that neither Disasi nor Raheem Sterling will be offered a route back into the first-team picture after both players failed to secure summer exits.
“They are Chelsea players but, at the moment, they are training separately. And the plan is to continue in this way,” said the former Leicester and Manchester City coach.
“Since the season started, I haven’t seen either of them. I haven’t seen Axel or Raheem. They train at a different time and on a different pitch. I haven’t seen them since the start of the season.”
Hammers News were informed by chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey that West Ham were joined by Sunderland and Wolves in showing an interest in Axel Disasi.
Speaking to French publication Carre, the 2022 World Cup runner-up confirms that Bournemouth made an approach too, after the Cherries lost both Ilya Zabarnyi and Dean Huijsen to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid respectively.
“During the period between the approaches from Bournemouth and West Ham, Monaco comes up. And there, you get me in my feelings,” Disasi explains.
“Monaco, where I spent three incredible years, when they came up [as being interested], all my memories came flooding back. Monaco is home.
“I hoped that Chelsea would find a solution so I could go on loan. I insisted right up to the last minute to go to Monaco [not West Ham or Bournemouth].”
Crysencio Summerville could start vs Tottenham as Raheem Sterling shares Disasi’s frustration
Hammers News can confirm that West Ham ‘made checks’ on Raheem Sterling too.
Deciding against signing a 30-year-old winger who struggled badly on loan at Arsenal last season looks like a sound one, however, especially as Crysencio Summerville is desperate to make up for lost time after his long injury absence.
Graham Potter confirms that Summerville is in contention to start against Tottenham, having not featured in the Hammers XI since the beginning of 2025.
Igor, who joined on loan from Brighton after Disasi rejected West Ham’s approach, should also be in the matchday squad for the first time alongside Soungoutou Magassa.
The Hammers reportedly made a £13 million loan-to-buy bid for an England Under-21 international too, though Charlie Cresswell insists he is happy to stay at Toulouse for the time being.
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