Chelsea are on the cusp of completing a deal to sign a proven Premier League player for just north of £55m.
A key strategy shift deployed by BlueCo this summer was the targeting of more readymade players with Premier League experience.
Chelsea’s owners aren’t giving up on youth, but are well aware the project they’re overseeing requires more stars who can make instant impacts.
Accordingly, a whopping £117m has been splashed out on Morgan Rogers, who was arguably Aston Villa’s best player over the past two seasons.
Attention then shifted to the centre-back position, which is an area of the pitch where Chelsea need more options than most.
Xabi Alonso will deploy a back three at times during his stay in west London, meaning the Blues must possess greater strength in deptih at the heart of defence than their rivals.
Crystal Palace and France ace, Maxence Lacroix, is the defender Chelsea have turned to. An agreement on personal terms was quickly ironed out, and on Thursday evening, multiple sources confirmed a club-to-club agreement is close.
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Chelsea close to finalising Maxence Lacroix transfer
Firstly, talkSPORT’s Alex Crook noted Chelsea are about to seal a deal with Palace worth a touch more than £55m.
He wrote on X: ‘#CFC are closing in a deal for Maxence Lacroix.
‘Palace chairman Steve Parish handling negotiations and overall package is expected to be north of £55m.
‘Chelsea have offered Palace the chance to sign a number of players including Axel Disasi.’
A few hours later, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirmed Lacroix’s switch to Chelsea is now ‘one step away’ and in the ‘final stages’.
“Now the deal is really at the final stages,” declared Romano on his YouTube channel. “Lacroix is one step away from becoming a new Chelsea player.
“Agreement done with the player, personal terms fully agreed. Lacroix is more than happy and excited to become a new Chelsea player. So everything is in place on the player side.
“And now club-to-club with the ownership in direct conversations – a meeting took place in New York before the World Cup final – and now working hard to close the deal as soon as possible, it could be any moment.”
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One added layer to this story was the possibility of Disasi moving the other way.
However, Romano insisted Disasi is not keen on the prospect of moving to Palace, and is NOT part of the impending agreement that will send Lacroix to Stamford Bridge.
According to Ben Jacobs, Serie A giants Roma and AC Milan have both made enquiries into Disasi’s potential signing, with Chelsea seeking £25m plus add-ons.
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