West Ham’s deadline day announcement of loan signing Axel Disasi has prompted many questions of how useful the French defender will be in east London.
The Hammers signing the 27-year-old on a loan deal from Chelsea will give much-needed depth in central defence after Igor Julio’s loan was terminated, plus Kaelen Casey spending the rest of the season at Leyton Orient.
Disasi is an experienced defender who will bring some much needed leadership qualities into the side. Furthermore, the centre back has been capped five times by the France national side, one of which being a substitute appearance in the 2022 World Cup Final.
However, it must be stated that Disasi currently lacks match fitness to an extreme level. Since returning from a six-month-loan spell at Aston Villa last season, the defender is yet to play a first-team game for Chelsea, only appearing three times for the Under 21s.
This is a major concern for West Ham, who have to deal with the urgent problem of Jean-Clair Todibo’s suspension after his sending off against Chelsea. Being in the position the Hammers find themselves, they have no time to ease signings in.
West Ham’s form and an immense lack of game time is not Disasi’s fault though and something that should be not used against him. Since 2020, when David Moyes signed both Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek, the most successful West Ham winter signing has been in the form of Jesse Lingard’s short-term loan deal in 2021.
Lingard had not played a single Premier League game that season before signing for the Hammers. Despite that, the attacking midfielder was instrumental in West Ham securing a European position, scoring nine goals and providing five assists, ultimately leading to an England call-up.
Consequently, there is no reason why Disasi cannot recapture the form that saw Chelsea sign the defender for €45million, and help West Ham stay in the Premier League.
Prior to signing for the west London club, Disasi spent three seasons at Monaco, where he enjoyed huge success that eventually led to his first international cap at the 2022 World Cup. In the defender’s first two seasons at Monaco, they twice finished third in Ligue 1 with the division’s fourth best defensive record in both seasons.
In addition to playing 61 games across those two league campaigns, Disasi featured as captain 14 times displaying his leadership at a young age.
Despite his brilliant form prior to signing for Chelsea, something that must be considered is Monaco’s below-average second half of the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season after defender Benoit Badiashile joined Chelsea in the winter transfer window.
Monaco conceded 35 goals from 20 Ligue 1 games, leading them to a 6th-place finish and the 14th best defensive record in the division, conceding 58 goals.
However, Disasi still received widespread compliments for his performances that season, looking particularly impressive in the Europa League, where he made headlines for his brilliant long-range late winner against Bayer Leverkusen.
Attributes wise, Disasi has a number of strengths that will greatly improve West Ham’s defence. Firstly, his aerial presence is remarkably impressive. Disasi’s 6ft 3 frame and commanding leap meant he had an aerial duel success rate of 70 per cent by the time he left Monaco.
This was also why the defender was particularly strong at attacking and, more importantly, defending set-pieces. West Ham have conceded 13 goals from set-pieces this Premier League season, the joint-third worst in the league. Bringing the 27-year-old into the side should mean vast improvements in this department.
Despite Disasi’s imposing physical attributes, he is still seen as a defender who reads the game extremely well, with his positioning being often praised. Perhaps this is the reason managers such as Didier Deschamps and Unai Emery have played the Frenchman at right back, where he showed his versatility.
That versatility would allow manager Nuno Espirito Santo to comfortably slot Disasi into the right of a back three if he wants to switch to a back five.
However, all of these positive attributes I have mentioned were largely seen when Disasi was playing in France. Chelsea fans have described the centre back as inconsistent and extremely poor on the ball, contradicting the glowing reviews of the defender when he was at Monaco.
Some may see this as a Chelsea problem, with the club buying and selling a number of highly rated players since Todd Boehly’s arrival, but the fact that Aston Villa did not see enough in the Frenchman to sign permanently, going for Victor Lindelof instead, is a cause of concern for West Ham fans.
Overall, I would say this is an extremely risky signing for the Hammers. Being six points below sides above the relegation zone, West Ham need results at an urgent rate. Consequently, bringing in a defender who has not played a first-team game all season seems rather illogical.
However, as previously mentioned, the signing of Lingard mirrored this exact situation and that transfer brought widespread success for the club. Ultimately this shows if Disasi were to recapture his form in France, West Ham’s defence would drastically improve, giving them a chance to secure Premier League football for another season.
However, if the 27-year-old only makes the defence worse, that could condemn the Hammers to relegation for the first time in 15 years.
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