West Ham have completed the deadline-day signing of Chelsea centre-back Axel Disasi for a reported loan fee of £1.7 million.
The French international joins until the end of the 2025/26 season, becoming **West Ham**’s fifth January signing, after Pablo Felipe, Taty Castellanos, Keiber Lamadrid and Adama Traoré.
Sitting 18th in the Premier League table, the East London club were in desperate need of defensive reinforcements, especially after **Jean-Clair Todibo**’s straight red card against Chelsea on the weekend, which sees him suspended for three games.
Disasi has struggled for game time this season as he has not made a single first-team appearance for the Blues. This was after being frozen out by former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and not being used by current Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior.
The five-time capped Frenchman will bring experience to this West Ham side. Having started his career at French side Paris FC, he then moved to Reims, followed by Monaco, which is where he made a name for himself.
Born in Paris, Disasi made 129 appearances for the Ligue 1 side before joining Chelsea in 2023 in a reported deal worth £38.5 million.
In his first season in London, Disasi went on to make 44 appearances, but the following season saw him struggle for game time, and he was loaned out to Aston Villa in the January window of last season.
After struggling for gametime this season, several teams were reportedly interested in signing the Frenchman. AC Milan looked the most likely destination, but the Hammers were seemingly also interested.
It was no secret that West Ham needed to bring in defensive players in January, and in the final few days of the window, it seemed they had two main targets. Disasi was one of them, but the club was unsure whether he actually wanted to join.
This led to the East London club reportedly making a £12 million bid for Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, but the Championship club swiftly rejected the bid.
However, on the morning of deadline day, it seemed West Ham had turned their attention back to the Chelsea defender and that both clubs had come to an agreement. Despite that, it seemed Disasi reportedly needed convincing to join, due to certain demands needing to be met.
The move was then put into further jeopardy as a deal sheet had to be submitted, which gave the club a two-hour extension to complete the signing.
In the end, after a turbulent deadline day, Disasi was announced at the eleventh hour and should be available to face Burnley on Saturday, if he is deemed fit enough.
“That’s why I came as it’s an exciting challenge.”
After signing, Disasi spoke on why he joined West Ham and what he hopes to achieve.
“Very happy to be here, to have this opportunity for my career. I’m ready to fight and to play games,” Disasi began.
“I think it was the right move for me because everyone knows my situation, I needed to get some minutes and the club have given me the opportunity to show my quality on the pitch.
“I spoke with all the people here, and I felt that they really wanted me, so that’s why I’m here.
“I just want to bring my personality, my character as well, on the pitch. As I say, I like to be dominant and aggressive, but at the same time, outside the pitch, I’m someone who can laugh with the guys and make jokes. So, I just want to bring myself and make sure that we achieve our goals.
Disasi added. “I know them from the national team [Alphonse Areola & Todibo]*. So I’m very happy to see them back here. I know as well Soungoutou Magassa, I saw him start in Monaco as a professional. I’m happy to see them, and I’m sure that we can get the confidence all together on the pitch. I spoke to Soungoutou, he told me to sign.*
“The first memories I have about West Ham is that I think in my first year that I came here, it was my first away game, so I still have this on my mind, even though we lost.
“That’s why I came as it’s an exciting challenge. We know that the club is not at the place they should be, but I’m here to help the team and to bring what I can to achieve the goals.”