On this evidence, as Axel Disasi gives West Ham United hope of survival and as Wesley Fofana flops again, Chelsea might have gotten rid of the wrong French centre-back.
Whatever the reason – maybe it’s the constant injuries leaving him in a state of out-of-sight, out-of-mind – Wesley Fofana has often managed to duck the conversation when the topic of ‘worst Premier League signings’ comes around.
Surely not for much longer.
Signed for £70 million from Leicester City in 2022, Fofana has more points on his driving licence [50, according to the Daily Mail] than he has top-flight starts in a Chelsea shirt [40].
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Lesley Ugochukwu of Burnley in action with Axel Disasi of West Ham United during the Premier League match between Burnley and West Ham United at Turf Moor on February 07, 2026 in Burnley, England.
Arguably the finest French, Chelsea-owned centre-back is plying his trade for West Ham United right now; the imperious Axel Disasi.
As Disasi returns to Villa Park with a point to prove in his reunion with Unai Emery, another dreadful Fofana performance certainly proved the point that many Chelsea supporters have been pushing in recent weeks. At £70 million, he is surely now up there with the Mudryks, the Shevchenkos, as some of the worst business in the club’s modern history.
Axel Disasi shines at West Ham United as Wesley Fofana flops at Chelsea
Axel Disasi playing for West Ham United against Manchester United,
Photo by Izzy Poles – AMA/Getty Images
According to reports, Chelsea may consider selling Disasi for just £20 million come the summer.
That is nearly half the fee they forked over to Monaco in 2023. One suspects that, after missing over 120 games through injury and illness, and with another nightmarish afternoon fresh in the minds, the Blues would be lucky to recoup 50 per cent of their ill-fated £70 million investment.
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“It was Fofana at the crime scene of Chelsea conceding once again,” The Sun wrote while handing both Fofana and the equally-culpable Robert Sanchez a rating of just 2/10 in Saturday’s 3-0 trouncing by Everton.
“With the defender caught square and ball-watching as Beto burst through on goal.”
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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.
Credit: GRV Media
Fofana slammed as Liam Rosenior’s side are thrashed at Everton
Hardly the most prolific, Beto was gifted a brace both by Fofana’s passiveness and Sanchez’s Sunday League goalkeeping.
Goal were not quite so brutal – Fofana given a 3/10 on their website – but this was merely the latest in a growing collection of disastrous displays from the fourth-most expensive centre-back in Premier League history.
“Bullied by Beto throughout,” Goal wrote. “Has put in a worrying series of terrible performances lately.”
After Fofana was shown a straight red card in February’s 1-1 home draw with doomed Burnley, the Chelsea supporters wondered if letting Disasi go was a mistake in hindsight. While one Frenchman has been such a calming influence at West Ham, near-faultless at the heart of Nuno Espirito Santo’s backline, the other sums up everything wrong about the BlueCo era.
Overpriced, overrated, rash and always prone to expensive blunders.
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