Axel Disasi gets move he wanted despite £60m Chelsea demand and Tottenham hijack
Axel Disasi has been keen to swap Chelsea for Aston Villa over the course of the weekend and after making clear he didn't want to go anywhere else, will now get his wish
Aston Villa have won the race to sign Axel Disasi.
The big French defender is en route to the Midlands for a medical ahead of a loan deal until the end of the season. The 26-year-old has found it difficult to break into Enzo Maresca’s plans and will now be playing for Villa until the end of the current campaign.
Villa have chased their man over the weekend and worked through the stumbling block which was the fee being asked by the Blues. Chelsea wanted £60m for the stopper but Villa were keen to nail a move on a temporary basis as they have issues at the heart of their defence.
Pau Torres is expected to be out for another four weeks. And Tyrone Mings is still shaking off the effects of a knee injury.
That has left Villa with just Ezri Konsa as a fit and recognised centre-half after the club cashed in on Diego Carlos who left for Fenerbache in a deal worth almost £9m. Midfielder Boubacar Kamara was forced to play centre-back in the weekend loss to Wolves and it didn't work.
Disasi will therefore come in an ease that issue having made clear to both Chelsea and Unai Emery that he only wanted to move to Villa Park.
Tottenham Hotspur made a late play to land the ex-Monaco man on deadline day after the news of Radu Dragustin's season-ending injury. And while Chelsea were open to letting Disasi move to a London rival, he is instead heading to Villa Park in the move he wanted.
He becomes Villa's second deadline day signing, after Marco Asensio arrived on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. The three-time Champions League winner, who has 38 caps for his country, signs for the Midlands club until the end of the season.
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