In the midst of a second successive post-New Year loan deal, Axel Disasi has made no secret of the fact that he is enjoying life at West Ham United far more than he did at Aston Villa.
Chelsea loanee Disasi paid a grateful tribute to Nuno Espirito Santo before the 1-1 draw against Manchester City last weekend.
Not only has Nuno given the five-time France international the confidence he was lacking hidden away in the Stamford Bridge ‘bomb squad’, Axel Disasi is just glad he’s playing at centre-half again.
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A graphic showing the lineup that West Ham United should pick against Aston Villa in the Premier League on 19/03/2026.
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Disasi started only six matches for Aston Villa in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign. On the occasions he did feature, West Ham United’s former Monaco powerhouse often featured at right-back rather than in his usual central position.
Disasi may feel he has unfinished business when he returns to Villa Park, then.
West Ham United star Axel Disasi was wasted by Aston Villa
West Ham face Aston Villa during Sunday’s 2pm kick-off in the Midlands. Whether or not Nuno sticks with the three-man backline which shut down Manchester City, or whether he reverts to a back-four, Disasi will be one of the first names on the team sheet at the heart of the visitors’ defence.
Axel Disasi during Paris Saint-Germain v Aston Villa FC - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Quarter Final First Leg
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
“I needed to play, and especially in my position,” Disasi told The Athletic recently. “Because it’s something that I missed last season [with Villa], when I was playing out of position.
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“The manager has allowed me to express myself.”
In what would become one of his most painful nights, Disasi was ripped to shreds by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia during a 3-1 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals.
As Rio Ferdinand said on TNT Sports, Disasi quite literally resembled ‘a centre-back playing out of position at right-back’ as the Georgian ran riot down the flank.
“Kvaratskhelia is owning the situation and the roll was just nasty. Other than laying him out on the floor, he just eliminates him beautifully. It’s the silkiness,” the legendary Man United defender said after watching Disasi be turned inside out in the build up to a stunning solo goal.
“He made Disasi look like a centre-back playing out of position at right-back.
“In the first ten minutes [of him coming on at right-back], I looked at Disasi and was thinking, ‘if he could ask to come off right now, he wouldn’t be far off doing it’.”
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Disasi has THREE years left on his Chelsea contract…
Axel Disasi at the end of the match during the Premier League match between Fulham and West Ham United
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Hammers could land Chelsea misfit Disasi for just £20m
One month later, Aston Villa’s season ground to a rather underwhelming conclusion; a top-four spot slipping through their grasp. And any plans they had of turning Disasi’s loan into a permanent transfer dissipated.
If the 28-year-old finds himself trudging back to Chelsea once again this summer, it will surely be because the price-tag is too high, or because West Ham have fallen short in their attempts to survive the drop.
Performance-wise, Disasi is one of the main reasons why the Hammers head to Villa Park increasingly confident of a ‘Great Escape’ to rival that of 2007.
According to reports, Chelsea may sell Disasi for around £20 million. A bargain, on current form.
And if Disasi shines on his Villa Park return, if the home fans are wondering why they did not see this version of the Stamford Bridge misfit in 2025, they would do well remembering that Disasi has already started more games for West Ham in his favoured position than he did across the entirety of his Aston Villa spell.
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