Axel Disasi caused a bit of a stir when he popped up in Chelsea’s Development Squad team last week.
The defender, signed for £39m just a couple of years ago, had been banished to the “bomb squad” this summer to force him to find a move. Nothing materialised, so he’s since been training on his own or with Raheem Sterling, separate from the main group.
Disasi back in first team training – questions surely being asked
Chelsea's youth team prepare to take on Qarabag.
Chelsea’s youth team prepare to take on Qarabag.
Eyebrows were raised when he was playing with the youngsters again, and now we get word that he’s been brought back into first team training during this international break while a lot of players are away. We can imagine that’s a slightly awkward situation.
Now we could be being overly cynical here, but it smells to us like maybe there’s been some pressure from the PFA (or maybe even Disasi’s lawyers) to get the defender back into training.
Of course getting him match fit makes him easier to loan or sell in January, and that’s what we’re being led to believe is the reasoning, but there may be more to this story than meets the eye.
A piece from Football.London today claims that he’s been reintegrated after “impressing behind the scenes”, but that doesn’t really add up. He wasn’t banished because he wasn’t a good influence or was behaving badly, but simply to force him to move. So the fact he’s been good about it doesn’t mean he should necessarily return.
In other news…
Moises Caicedo did a little international break feature where he talked through some quick fire questions on Chelsea’s fastest, strongest and funniest players, among other things.
Caicedo has been valued at £200m by Pat Nevin, who doesn’t think Chelsea would sell him but knows what it would cost Real Madrid if they were ever to try and persuade the Blues.
More Stories about Axel Disasi
Stamford Bridge with a generic view.
Axel Disasi with a Chelsea logo.
Axel Disasi with a Chelsea logo.