Crystal Palace and Chelsea remain in talks over a deal for Maxence Lacroix.
Fabrizio Romano claimed on YouTube early on Thursday morning that the discussions are advancing as all parties try to make the move happen. Lacroix is keen to join Chelsea.
However, the reliable Italian journalist strangely added that Crystal Palace asked about signing Axel Disasi as part of the deal – a detail which really doesn’t bode well, in our view.
How much is Maxence Lacroix worth? 🤔
The Frenchman still has three years left on his contract 📝
Axel Disasi enquiry suggests Matt Hobbs has no idea how to replace Maxence Lacroix
The fact the Eagles even asked about Disasi should annoy Crystal Palace fans.
The former Reims man has been an abject failure for Chelsea ever since his £38.8m move from Monaco in August 2023 – so much so that Enzo Maresca even exiled the defender to the ‘Bomb Squad’ last summer and tried to force him out of Stamford Bridge.
A decent loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season partly rebuilt his reputation, but the Hammers still dropped down to the Championship.
Chelsea are said to value Disasi at £25m after that stint in east London, so if the France international were to be included in the Lacroix deal, it would likely see Crystal Palace receive a much smaller transfer fee.
Fortunately, Romano added that the 28-year-old is holding out for other options and is currently unwilling to join Crystal Palace, which will irk Chelsea fans too given how desperate they are to see him depart.
However, the mere fact that Hobbs even asked about Disasi strongly suggests there isn’t much of a plan in place in terms of replacing Lacroix.
Too many names have been linked by this stage – including Chrislain Matsima, Charlie Cresswell, Tiago Gabriel and Konstantinos Koulierakis – which suggests agents are pushing defenders onto Crystal Palace in the knowledge that Lacroix will soon be gone.
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With one of the strongest sources in football now claiming that Hobbs asked about Disasi, it feels like Crystal Palace are adopting a panicked, scattergun approach to replacing Lacroix.
