Chelsea return to Champions League action on Tuesday evening when they face Italian side Atalanta.
The Blues arrive in Bergamo in seventh place in the 36-team Champions League group phase table, and victory against Atalanta will move them a step closer to securing qualification for the knockout stages.
Domestically, however, Enzo Maresca’s side have endured a bad week having followed up a 3-1 defeat against Leeds United with a goalless draw against struggling Bournemouth on Saturday.
Those two results leave Chelsea fifth in the Premier League table, despite being talked about as potential title challengers just a fortnight ago.
Now, with the January transfer window fast approaching, it has emerged that a forgotten Chelsea man could be on his way to a Premier League rival.
As per CaughtOffside, Newcastle United are one of a number of clubs keeping tabs on Axel Disasi ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.
The report claims that German side Borussia Dortmund have identified the Frenchman as a possible transfer target, while the centre-back has also attracted interest from West Ham United.
Disasi spent the latter half of last season on loan at Aston Villa (Photo: Paul Marriott/Alamy)
Turkish side Galatasaray and Italian giants Juventus are also said to be interested in the defender, who has been almost entirely frozen out at Chelsea and hasn’t been included in a match day squad so far this term.
Disasi, 27, joined the Blues from French side Monaco in 2023 and has made 61 appearances for the west London club, but he fell out of favour following Maresca’s arrival at Stamford Bridge and was sent on loan to Aston Villa in January.
Since returning from Villa Park, the Frenchman hasn’t been involved at all in Maresca’s squad and has instead been training away from the first team.
Disasi’s contract with Chelsea isn’t set to expire until 2029, but it appears increasingly likely that he could leave SW6 in January after failing to find a move during the summer transfer window.